A Different Life
by Hatsubloo93
Summary: Malik will meet an assassin that he's never met before in his life, but he has been dreaming about him for a while now...why is that? is it fate?
1. Prologue

**Notice:** this is my first time making a chapter story, and the first time doing AC story types. Since I do enjoy romance between Altair and Malik, I had decided to do one of my own; I am working on the other chapters to be uploaded later on, I do suck terribly at writing (sigh). yeah, so expect MxM action later, but for now enjoy...

**Disclaimer: **I do not own any of these characters.

* * *

_He stood there, keeping his gaze at the hooded man standing before him, clutching the sleeve where his arm should be. As tears start to fill his eyes, hearing the words that the hooded man was telling him; he could see his mouth moving, but couldn't hear the words he was saying, though he knew what the other man was telling him. As he saw the hooded man turn away, walking for the entrance of the ceiling; he ran after him, wrapping his one arm around the chest of the other male, halting him from walking any further. The shorter man rested his forehead on the other man's back, with his tears falling over his cheeks, as he mumbles, **"don't leave me".** The hooded man turns his head slightly, to face the shorter man, as the other looked up at him, to meet his gaze. The one armed man saw the scarred side of the taller man's lips, twitching from a frown into a sad smile. **'I'm sorry'** were the silent words that he could make out, when he felt a strong hand grab hold of his, and was quickly removed from the other. There was a distance between them now; the hooded man seemed to be a lot further away from him. He followed after him, trying desperately to chase after the taller man, but felt his legs running slower and slower; the hooded man seemed too far now, as he stretched out his only arm, in an attempt to grab hold of him again. He couldn't think, he couldn't breathe, he couldn't scream out to the other, as he reached for him, almost…..almost…_

* * *

An alarm clock went off at 7:30 a.m., startling the man out of his horrifying dream; he opened his half lidded eyes, groaning from his grogginess. Covering his face in his pillow, hiding from the crack of the light coming through the curtains above him. He reached out to press the snooze button, but missed aimlessly for a moment, until slamming his hand onto the button, finally. He then lifted his tired head, grimacing at the sunlight crossing over his face; he forced himself to sit on the edge of his bed, resting his head on his hands. He quickly looked up, grabbing his left arm; reminding himself that it was indeed, just a bad dream. "the same dream…" he said to himself, "why am I still having this same damn dream", he quickly lost his trail of thought, when he heard a knock on his door. He sees the knob twisting, and slowly, the door opens; his brother peaked in, with a large grin on his face.

"good morning, Malik" he spoke up, with a wide grin on his face.

Malik sighed, as he stood up from his bed to stretch out his arms, "good morning, Kadar…did you sleep well, why are you up so early", he said as he yawned, looking at the younger man with curious sleepy eyes

Kadar stood at the door way, looking down at his feet before replying, "um….actually, I will be honest, …I couldn't sleep at all", he said simply; he looked up to see a raised eyebrow on his older brother's face.

"would it have anything to do with your training, later on today", Malik smiled, still feeling a bit of exhaustion, "you're really that excited, aren't you", he shuffled over to his closet, starting to pick out clothes to wear.

"are you kidding? Of course I'm excited", he said happily, walking over to sit on Malik's bed. "today is the day that I will rise up to a higher rank as a novice assassin…" Malik turned to his brother with a wide grin, before turning back to look through his wardrobe again. "so that means that I am getting closer to your level, big brother" he said pointing to Malik.

"just wait until you actually become an official assassin", Malik chuckled. After searching through some clothes, he managed to pull out a plain black t-shirt, and a pair of navy blue jeans, and started to strip out of his pajamas and into the clothes of his choice. Fitting into his clothing, he walked over to sit with his brother. "you certainly are confident with yourself, Kadar" he responds with a smile, looking into his brothers blue eyes, "and I have no doubt in my mind, that you will become a skilled assassin like me and the others, but you are still a novice; you still have a long way to go", he added, running his hand through the younger brother's short curly hair. Kadar smiled briefly, removing his brothers' hand, then stood up, looking down to his older sibling.

"just you wait, Malik…I know someday, I will prove myself to everyone, and to you mostly" he said, resting his hand on his brother's shoulder. Malik made a false smile, turning his gaze from his brother, now looking at his left arm, gripping onto it tightly. Kadar continued to glare at his brother, sitting with him once again. "so…did you have that dream again" he asked, changing the subject.

Malik looked at his brother with wide eyes, "what….no, no of course not; what makes you think that" he said quickly, standing from his bed again.

Kadar glared at him, "Malik, come on" he stood after him, "that same dream you keep having, about some strange hooded guy, with a scar on his lips" Malik looked down embarrassed, "the one that you are supposedly 'in love' with, remember" gesturing the 'love' part with his fingers as quotation marks, "that same guy that keeps dumping your ass".

"I am NOT in love with him" Malik argued, though he earned a glare from his brother.

"Malik, please…I could sometimes hear you crying in your sleep, all the way from my room; and my room is just down the damn hall!" he shouted quietly, raising his arms in the air, "so if you're not in 'in love' with this guy, why do you keep dreaming about him? what exactly is your relationship with him? Do you even know this guy?", he began to raise his voice.

"I don't …know" Malik said, still not looking at his brother.

Kadar sighed, "brother, you have had this dream ever since you turned the age of twenty" he rested his hand on Malik shoulder, squeezing gently. "you are now twenty-three, and you still don't understand the meaning behind it; even therapy couldn't help you overcome it." he added calmly. "maybe this is….a sign"

Malik stared at his brother with eyes narrowed, "look, I know that it has become a problem over the past years" he manages to say finally.

"oh really, I haven't noticed" Kadar said sarcastically, crossing his arms over his chest.

Malik rolled his eyes at him, "and I know that if I am patient enough, then it will eventually be clearer to me, but until then, …let's just drop it" he said, giving his younger brother a reassuring look on his face.

Kadar really couldn't drop this topic, especially when it comes to his brother, of all people. It took him a moment of silence, until his mood quickly brighten again. "alright, if that is your wish" he made his way to Malik's door frame, "oh, I almost forgot why I came over here in the first place.." Malik stared at his brother, feeling a bit confused. "could you make me some breakfast?"

"that is the actual reason why you came to see me this early in the morning?" Malik raised an eyebrow again.

"uh duh…I need to be fueled and ready for my training today".

"well it certainly was nice to know that you care for me so much, Kadar; especially, just when you were showing some concern just two minutes ago", Malik said with a sarcastic tone, "you little brat".

"stupid virgin", Kadar countered.

Malik's face was red with embarrassment, then with anger. He ran after Kadar, chasing him out of his room, passing the kitchen, and running into the dining area. The dining table was Kadar's only distance to keep him and his brother apart. He laughed at how Malik easily gets angry with that little remark. "Kadar, I thought I told you to never say that out loud!" now he was shouting.

"oh come on, brother, I was just joking around, besides no one is around to hear; you know that I would never actually say that in front of people, right?" he said giving Malik an innocent look.

Malik calmed down a bit, still glaring at Kadar, before turning his attention to the kitchen. "just remember that the walls have ears, Kadar", he said looking at his brother, and with that Kadar gestures with hand sliding over his lips, as if to zip it tight with a lock; making a wide grin. Malik took it as a 'promise' and continued on to go make breakfast.


	2. Chapter 1: Deja Vu

**A/N: **okay to explain what had happened in the first chapter, is that Malik had a dream that was taking place in the 11 century, having both him and Altiar as a former couple, and I thought that since Altair would be married to Maria and have kids, he couldn't be with Malik. so I'm letting fate give them a second chance at love again; which leads to our AU of this story, completely changing the whole present time. but it seems that history will repeat itself in a way, a way that I don't even know either how to explain...it will come to me

so I hope that makes better sense, if not, then I understand that u may think that I am stupid at plotting.

anyways, no Malik, but Altair is in this story talking about a mission, but Malik is mentioned towards the end.

**p.s. **I am very horrible at explaining details in stories, so enjoy my poorly written chapters.

* * *

The world around him was moving in a dark emptiness, shaking his body slightly, yet he knew he had his eyes shut; oh, that's right, he was sleeping on a plane, a private jet to be exact. He tried not to open his tired eyes, but the feeling of being tugged on the arm, was really not helping. So instead he just flutters his eyelids to see what was happening.

"Altair", came an inaudible voice. His eyelids open slightly, his vision still blurry, and felt himself being pushed by the shoulder.

"Altair", the voice became louder this time. It was loud enough to hear through the heavy metal music thumping in his ears, waking him up completely. He jerked his head to the person that was trying to get his attention.

Altair looked from under his white hood, to see his Italian cousin, Ezio. Taking off his earphones he said "what…Ezio?", he forced a heavy sigh, "what the hell do you want!", he snapped.

"I was just trying to wake you..." he said simply.

Altair scowled at him, "why?", before Ezio could answer, Altair turned his attention towards his other cousin sitting in a seat behind them, who was reading a magazine at the moment. "Desmond, what did I tell you two to wake me until we arrive in America" he asked as a statement instead of a question.

"but…we are in America", he replied, as he looked at Altair direction.

Altair looked at him with wide eyes, then looked briefly at his Italian cousin, and turned his head around to look out the small window next to him. He shifted in his seat, and glanced out the window, to see that they were still high above land; their plane was indeed gliding downwards to the ground. Altair grinned, "home sweet home", was all he could say.

* * *

It had been a couple of minutes for the private jet to land; they landed in an empty area outside of the city, with nobody around, except for an old man in a suit, wearing shades, and a younger man, covering his face with his dark green hoodie; just waiting for the three assassin's to exit their plane. The trio had their time to retrieve their bags and suitcases, and exit out of the plane, to greet the other two. As they walked down a staircase in front of the entrance of the plane; Altair had recognized the old man wearing in the suit. He paced over to the pair and bowed to him, Desmond had done the same after, realizing that Ezio was just standing there, he lightly punched the Italians arm; flinching in pain, he had bowed as well.

"safety and peace, master Al Mualim", Altair spoke.

"and upon you as well, Altair", the master said happily, "so how was your mission during your time in Italy".

"it was a success, we made sure that everything was in order from any templar activity", Ezio had responded, "and to prove to you of our success, here" he stepped in front of Altair, and handed out a small, but wide box. Al Mualim took it carefully in his hands, and opened it to see, nine feathers, covered in blood from their victims. The old man smiled at them with satisfaction.

"good…very good; though, I have always expected such from master assassin's" Al Mualim said with glee, looking at the three assassins; Altair glanced over to the hooded man standing next to his master; the hood that was still covering his pale face. Al Mualim took notice of his students glare at the man next to him, and smiled. "ah yes, you two know each, don't you?"; Altair just continued to stare, as the green hooded man, starting to remove his hoodie. Showing his pale face, dark blue eyes, his slicked back dirty blonde hair.

"Clay..", Altair said frowning at him.

"it's been a long time, brother", Clay said, making a friendly smile.

" 'step' brother" Altair corrected. Clay quickly frown at that, but quickly made a faint smile.

"come, we must discuss some important matters", Al Mualim gestures to the limousine behind them. The assassins walked with their master to the limousine, they sat comfortably, waiting for Al Mualim to speak. There was silence for a moment, until finally Al Mualim asks, "you have heard of a company called Abstergo Industries, have you not?" the three assassins nod their heads, and the master continued again, "several of our informants have gathered information about Abstergo for the past week, and they share the same theory that this company is indeed, a major source of templar activity". Al Mualim pauses for a moment, then started again, "we have sent in a group of our top assassins in to infiltrate, and do further investigation of the industries, but during their time there, they were never heard of again".

"what?…weren't they able to make contact outside of Abstergo, before they went missing?" Desmond asked.

"unfortunately, they have not; in fact, the only contact we have received was from one person, Daniel Cross, though he was not able to share anything that he may know; we had lost contact of him quite suddenly, and he ended up being captured just like the others had, and most likely killed", Al Mualim explained.

"surely you could have chosen someone 'better' to take care of this task", Altair remarked, narrowing his eyebrows.

"well luckily I have; you three are perfect for this task, and that is why I will allow you to finish what was started" Al Mualim stated. The trio all looked at each other for a moment, then back at their master. "Clay"

Clay turned in his seat to look at the old man next to him, "yes, master"

"tell them the most important part of their assignment"

"ah…yes, I almost forgot", he turned to look at the three assassin's before him, "you will be needing some assistance in you missions, someone to give you guidance -"

"what? Are we not trusted enough with this task? Do you take us for incompetent fools?", Altair snapped, everyone looking to him with a shocked expression on their faces, their eyes widening at his sudden outburst, "maybe you have forgotten, but I happen to be a master assassin, a very skilled one at that; so what makes you think that.."

Al Mualim interrupts, "Altair!...enough!"

"but, master I.." he stutters.

"it is not your decision to make, it is the decision of the brotherhood; now stay silent", Altair began to pout, leaning back in his seat, with his arms crossed over his chest.

Clay sighed deeply then continued, "as I was saying, you will be needing a partner to help you succeed in your missions; I have not met any of these people that are being assigned to you all, but they could become useful", the three assassins nodded their heads in agreement. Clay pulled his suitcase onto his lap, opening it and pulling out three manila folders; each one having a name of the 'partners' of the assassins. He looked up at Desmond first, taking hold of his folder in hand, "Desmond, your partner will be, Lucy Stillman; I have met her in person, she is a very calm and collective young lady". Desmond smiled at this, "she is looking forward to working with you", Clay hands over the folder to Desmond, who took it with much excitement. Clay picks up another folder, looking up at Ezio. "now for Ezio, your partner will be, Yusuf Tazim; I heard that he is very enthusiastic about his work, loves to train most of the time. I know that the both of you will get along just fine". Ezio smirked accepting the folder; Al Mualim had smirked as well, knowing that so far his students are pleased with this arrangement.

Though, there was still one more; Clay lifted up the final folder, "and Altair", the hooded man just stared at him, waiting for him to spit it out already. "you will be partnered with Malik Al-Sayr; what I heard of this guy, is that he is very bright, intelligent, and witty. I understand that you will get annoyed for the first two minutes meeting this guy, and end up killing him where he stands…" he trailed off, hearing Desmond and Ezio snicker quietly, Altair just glared at them, then turned his attention back to his so-called brother. Clay just smiled at that, then continued, "but I know for a fact, that you will end up liking this guy." Altair furrowed his brows at him, leaned up and reaching out to grab the folder, and yanked it out of Clay's hand. He sat back down, taking his eyes off his brother, and looked at the assigned folder in his hands.

Al Mualim spoke up again, "these folders will contain much information about your partners, that way you could get to be more acquainted with each other; tomorrow, I expect you all to be ready for your mission. They all nodded to their master, and started to relax of what is to come. Altair on the other hand, couldn't relax one bit, still focusing on the name of his soon-to-be-partner. 'Malik Al-Sayr', his lips frowning, his eyes stilled; he just stared for a long time, getting a strange feeling in his head, a feeling of Déjà vu.


	3. Chapter 2: The Greeting

**since I have kept you waiting long enough, here is the next chap, I am still working on the next one cuz it might be longer**

**I promised more characters, so here it is; oh and since Maria is in this story, I have decided not to make her the evil ex girlfriend, since she had been protrayed as the evil ex for a lot of fanfics; so I will give her a break from the hate, and instead she will be a close friend to Altair. So I had chosen 'someone' else to play the she-devil, but you will have to wait for the next chapter...**

**and I am not implying anything for Clay and Malik's relationship, I just thought it be funny and cute.**

* * *

It had only taken an hour or two for Al Mualim to give further instructions to the three assassins for their new assignment, until they had finally reached their destination in the city; they had exited out the limousine only to look up at the building before them, except they had expected something…not so plain. They had arrived at a tall white building, with large glass windows that reflects the outside. There was a large logo sign with the words 'creed corporation' on the top of the building that hints this was the place. 'Yeah, this building isn't suspicious whatsoever,' Altair had thought to himself, as he stares from under his hood; with a name like that could be enough to give them away. Al Mualim and Clay had started to walk inside the building, passing through revolving doors, leaving the three assassins to continue to stare at their new headquarters. The three shook their heads, shaking the incredulous looks on their faces, as they followed the pair. They had entered inside, and to their surprise the inside was also white, well just the walls and ceiling, but the tile floor was black; there was office cubicles, with business workers taking calls, and a receptionist desk in front of them, making up for the blandness of this building.

"so this is our new headquarters?," Ezio asked with an raised eyebrow. Al Mualim smiled at his students.

"why yes it is," the old man chuckled, taking his shades off he said, "but don't let the interior design fool you, there is a lot to this building then you may think; once you explore the place of course." He strolled over to the receptionist desk, trying to get the brunettes attention, since she was listening to music in her headphones. She looked up and smiled, removing her headphones and stood off her chair to greet her master. "miss Crane..," he started.

"how's it going A.M," she smirked and bowed her head slightly. "what can I do for ya." Al Mualim raised an eyebrow at her greeting, and just decided to let it pass.

"they happen to be my finest students….and also the brotherhood's few selected" he gestures to the three men that stopped right behind him, "they will need to settle into their new rooms, for they will need much rest for tomorrow; boys this is Rebecca Crane, if you have any questions, just ask her," he says as he starts to leave. The three assassins look at him with a questioning look.

Rebecca eyes widen, "ah, right you are the new guys, huh?" she questions with much interest in her eyes, propping her head on her hands.

"master..," Altair starts, "weren't you going to show us around," Al Mualim spares the assassin a glance and then looks away.

"I do apologies, I have…other important things to attend to" he says, as he strokes his beard, he continues, "but…I will allow Clay to do so, instead," the old man added, then takes his leave again. Altair scowled at this, still avoiding Clay's happy look on his face.

Desmond took this opportunity to ask Rebecca a question, resting his arms on her desk he says, "can I ask you something."

"oh, sure Mr. …." she trails off, not even catching his name.

"Miles, Desmond Miles" he says as he lifts up a hand, which Rebecca took and shook lightly.

"what can I do for you Desy boy" she gave a simple grin.

"well, since we are here, I was wondering about our 'assigned partners'; shouldn't they be here…to greet us I mean?" he asked shyly.

"ah, yeah well we …have been pretty busy for the past week, so everyone is working extra today; though I know that Lucy was expecting to come by to meet you three, anyways" she shrugged with a reassuring smile; light steps were heading their way, Rebecca raised her head to see the newcomer, and her smile widens, "speaking of the devil, here she is now". A pale thin woman, with bright red lipstick, her blonde hair twisted in a bun; she was wearing a thin white button up shirt, knee length black skirt and black high heels. She was accompanied by a tall man, with long curly black hair in a ponytail, messy rugged beard, a colorful bandana wrapped around his forehead, keeping some locks of hair away from his face; wearing a gray suite that seemed to be a bit tight on him, revealing how muscular his body is, and a red tie that had an assassin's symbol on it. The blonde haired lady turned her attention to the man leaning on the Rebecca's desk, with much confusion in her eyes.

She finally spoke, "who's your friend Rebecca?" smiling at the man, who was standing to his full height now.

"oh, this is Desmond Miles, him and his friends just arrived here; they are the new guys Al Mualim was talking about."

Lucy looked at her with a shocked expression on her face, then snapped her head to Desmond, Altair, and Ezio, now facing her. "wait, Desmond Miles…..you are the one that I am expecting then." She said.

Desmond started to blush, stuttering a bit he said, "uh…yeah I…it's nice to meet," they both shook hands, not losing eye contact. Lucy may have thought that Desmond was getting shy, but didn't bother to ask.

"oh, this is Yusuf Tazim" she gestures to the man standing behind her. He stood next to her, and bowed his head to show respect to the other three. Ezio took quick notice that his partner was standing right in front of him.

The Italian hesitates a moment, "so you are the man I am looking for, my partner, right?"

"why yes," Yusuf responds, "and you are…Ezio Auditore de la la la," he jokes.

Altair and Desmond laughed, and Ezio frowned at his partner, "it is da Firenze, amico mio," he corrected with an annoyed tone.

Yusuf held his hands up in defense, deciding to change the subject. "so I take it that you have yet to look around our headquarters, yes?"

The three looked at each other for a moment, Altair spoke up, "actually Clay was to be our guide, but for some reason he has not moved and inch." Altair gave a hateful glare at the man behind them; Clay was just leaning his body on the receptionist desk, the corner of his mouth becoming a smirk.

"you didn't say please, brother," he said tauntingly. Altair was gritting his teeth in annoyance.

Yusuf can feel the tension between them grow, so he decides to interrupt. "well, then I will be of assistance, please follow me." He gestures to them to follow, so they do so. Altair and Ezio stop for a moment, realizing that Desmond hasn't move from his spot, neither did Lucy, both of them just smiling at each other.

"Desmond, aren't you coming?" Ezio asked, raising and eyebrow at the younger man, especially Altair, considering the fact that his hood hid his features.

"ah…no, you guys go on ahead, and I will meet the both of you later," he said rather quickly. The other two assassins just shrugged and followed Yusuf and Clay.

They passed through a few people, bumping into them; try to keep up with Yusuf. They reached down a hall and stopped at an elevator, Yusuf pressed a button that goes down, they waited until the elevator door opened; they entered the elevator, and the doors slide shut behind them. The two assassins could see many buttons that could take them on a higher level of this building. Yusuf started to press some numbered buttons, as if he were putting in a code; Altair and Ezio just stared at him confused, and Clay just smirked at the looks on their faces. Yusuf had finished putting in his 'code' and waited; suddenly the elevator was moving down. This had just occurred to them, they were on the first floor; the elevator is taking them down even further, most likely underground, where the building is. Altair sighed, decided to remove his hood, as if feeling unexposed to the world. Altair had short brown hair, gelled to make his hair look spiked up on the top; piercing golden eyes, almost making it impossible to look directly at them, if looked the wrong way, or any way in fact.

"so, where is your partner?" Yusuf asked, getting a shiver down his spine when the golden eyed man glared at him, obviously annoyed by his question.

Altair sighed, "I…haven't met him yet," he turned away, crossing his arms over his chest, wanting to not continue this conversation.

"well, I certainly am sorry for him to meet you then" he said abruptly.

Altair turned to glare at him again, with narrowed dagger like eyes, "and why the hell is that?" he snarled, his hands began to clench tightly on his arms.

"I was only kidding, friend," Yusuf chuckled, feeling uneasy under the younger man's glare. "it's just that you look very intimidating, especially when you look at people with those eyes, without much effort." He said simply, trying to make it sound as a compliment.

Gladly it had worked, Altair relaxed a bit, frown quickly became a smug, "thank you." The elevator suddenly stopped, the doors sliding open. They exit out to see they were in another hallway; other people in business clothing passing by them. Yusuf was walking to the left side of the hallway; the others follow, heading towards a pair of big framed doors. They went pass through the doors, entering into a large room, full of other people wearing different colors of white, gray, and black hood sweaters; there was stripes on the sleeves, indicating the ranks of their level; they were all sitting, chatting and eating their lunches together on small lunch tables. Some were in groups and some were to themselves doing work on their laptops.

"Altair?" came a small voice from a crowd of people, their conversations echoing in the mess hall. Altair and the others looked over to the female walking up to them, Altair quickly recognized the women, an old friend of his from his childhood.

"Maria?" Altair stared at her for a moment, then smiled as the woman hugged him tightly. He hugged her back, feeling much relief.

Maria moved back, "it has been so long since we saw each other, and you have gotten taller I see" she lightly punched Altair in the shoulder, "how have you been?" she laughed, and so was he. The other three just stared at them with a confused expression.

"I've been better, I guess," Altair shrugged, his smile increasing. Yusuf tapped his finger on Ezio's shoulder, gesturing with his thumb pointing in a different direction, Ezio understood, and they both started to walk away, leaving Altair to chat with his longtime friend.

"have you….seen your father around, when you arrived?" she asked cautiously.

"I have not yet," Altair said simply, uninterested in that topic. Clay saw the other two leaving, so he would have to inform his brother.

Clay placed a hand on Altair's shoulder, which the taller man quickly noticed of, and shook him off, glaring at him, "Altair…"

"what do you want Clay," Altair snapped, narrowing his golden eyes at the other.

"we're going to take Ezio to explore HQ, will you be fine on your own," he said as gestures to the two that departed. Altair cooled down a bit, sighing loudly.

"yea, I'll catch up later, now go." The assassin calmly said. Clay nodded turning and walking away. When he was out of range, he turned slowly glancing at the two chattering away, laughing together, enjoying each other's company; he was actually getting…..jealous? he didn't understand why, they are both brothers after all; but the thing was the other one hated him with a passion. He quickly shook those thoughts from his head, and turned on the balls of his feet, quickly walking with his head lowered. Then suddenly he had felt a hard impact on his chest, a smaller figure colliding into him. He grunted in pain, as the other person fell hard on the floor, hissing from the sudden pain from his back; the papers he had in hand, now scattered all over the floor. The people around them had noticed, they started to giggle and whisper among each other.

The man on the floor was propping himself on his elbows for support, as he was sitting up. The man before him has a darker tanned skin, purposely tousled short raven black hair, a short and neatly trimmed stubble on his chin. He was wearing a gray sweater, zipper undone revealing a black t-shirt; navy blue jeans, almost torn on his knees, and worn out white running shoes. Clay only had one thought of the man on the floor before him; that he was very gorgeous.

"you…you idiot, watch were you're going" he hissed out in pain, sitting up on his knees as he cleans up the mess of papers on the floor; "look at this mess," he continued to complain, Clay stood there still looking down at the other, too distracted by that sexy voice he just heard. He quickly snapped back to reality, and squat down to lend a helping hand; the other didn't protest, as he allowed the blonde man to help him.

After cleaning up the mess, they both stood, looking at each other; Clay finally spoke, "I'm sorry about that, I was not looking where I was going," Clay said, smiling like a dork.

"you should be more careful, then," he remarked, still with a annoyed tone.

Clay couldn't help but smile, he extended his hand out to the other, "the name is Clay Kaczmarek," he added random, "and you are…?"

The other man raised an eyebrow in confusion to the other man's greeting, he took hold of the blonde's hand, "my name is Malik Al-Sayr," he shook the other's hand, still with a hateful glare towards him.

Clay took a moment to analyze that name; of course it sounds familiar, this was the man that his brother was looking for. "your Malik Al-Sayr," he says in confirmation.

"yes…I just said my name like seven seconds ago," he scolded him, but the other seemed unfazed by it.

"well, that's great," Malik narrowed his eyebrows at him, "you're the guy that will be partnered with my brother," he said smiling. He grabbed hold of Malik's left arm, tugging the other man to Altair's direction. "it's a good thing I found you too, that way we wouldn't have to go through the hassle of searching for you." Malik almost stumbled, as he was being dragged by the other.

"wa…wait a sec," Malik tried, but Clay continued to pull him; still gripping hold of his papers in hand. They had finally approached a man and woman talking and laughing with each other.

Clay shouted, "Altair!" and Altair and Maria turned their attention to Clay, dragging someone behind him. Both Clay and Malik stopped side by side, as Altair and Maria stare at the newcomer. "Altair, this is Malik Al-Sayr," he glanced at Malik, "Mal, this is my brother Altair ibn La'Ahad." Altair golden eyes glared deeply into Malik's dark brown eyes, sending shivers down the smaller man's spine. Malik's eyes widens further, as he sees a faint, but noticeable scar on the right corner of the assassin's mouth.

"Altair…" he manages a whisper, his grip on his papers coming loose; all of them falling out of his hand. He is shocked to see that familiar scar, as if a ghost is coming back to haunt him; but this time, it isn't in his dreams. Altair just grinned at his shocked expression, refusing to lose eye contact with the raven haired man.

"Malik, you drop your papers again," Clay stated, but Malik just ignored him; for at this moment, he felt as though, he and Altair were the only people here.


	4. Chapter 3: Old friends, New friends

**okay, here is the next chapter...the one is a lot longer than the others. We finally see Altair and Malik together, and some flirting, but thats as much as I will give for now...and there is someone you will hate a lot throughout the story, but I know that you already know who I am talking about...**

**I am probably going to take more time to work with my next chapter, perhaps to add more into the story, so be patient. Also I have to quit spoiling the story, cuz I like to have you anticipate what is to come...mwahahah!**

**now on with the story!**

* * *

Malik couldn't believe his eyes, as he was completely mesmerized by the scarred mouth man. The way the taller man kept grinning at him, as if he knows his deepest, darkest secrets; that was sending shivers down his spine. That same look that would remind him of one that the hooded man in his dreams did. Though, this one seemed different; it wasn't the one that the raven haired despised, it was something new to him. Then that smile slowly turned into an annoyed frown, as the taller man started to speak words to him. Malik still looked at him, still puzzled, not able to comprehend what the other was saying.

"Malik…" he was shook out of his thoughts, as Clay had clutched onto his shoulder with concern. "Malik?" he tried again.

Malik blinked a few times, he quickly snapped his head to the paler man, "what?" he finally responded, his face flushed. He turned his attention back to Altair, who looked impatient.

"I said, are you okay?" Altair asked again, slowly this time, narrowing his eyes at the smaller man. Malik blushed slightly, looking away from the others gaze, hoping that he didn't notice. He quickly pulled himself together, taking a deep breath.

"yeah, I am…fine," he forced a smile to the other, "it's just that I ..." he trailed off, not knowing what to say to the other. Altair sighed softly, giving a brief smile to the other.

"if it's about my eyes, then don't worry, I get that a lot with other people," he reassured the other with a smirk, sticking his hands into his pockets of his white sweater. "so don't feel embarrassed, everyone else seems to have that same reaction when they feel inferior to me." Malik huffed, blush increasing due to embarrassment and anger at the other's remark.

"not everyone, ibn La'Ahad," Maria said, smirking at Altair, who in return stuck his tongue out at her. Malik couldn't help but smile at the two.

Clay laughed quietly, wrapping an arm around Malik's shoulders bringing him closer, giving him a slight hug. "well, I guess I should be going now," Altair looked at him with a raised eyebrow, clearly expected him to have done so, shortly after he had introduced Malik to him. Clay sighed, releasing his grip on Malik's shoulders, "just wanted to be sure that my 'dear brother' and new friend became well acquainted with each other, without any bloodshed, of course." Malik furrowed his brows, curious to what he meant by that.

Altair frowned again, "just leave already Clay," he growled. The blonde smirked, nodding his head as he was stepping backwards.

Before the pale man turned to take his leave, he glanced over to Altair, "be nice to Mal, okay bro," he said, now walking away. Altair sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. Maria gave a slight chuckle, giving a warm smile to him.

"Mal?..." Malik muttered, raising an eyebrow at his departing friend. He turned around shaking his head, "I just met that guy, and he already has a nickname for me."

"well, it certainly suits you….Mal," Altair scoffed, Malik narrowed his eyes at the man, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance, blushing once again.

Maria softly laughed, wanting to interrupt the two, "I guess I should go too, I have to prepare for my training exercises and…" before she could finish, Altair cut in.

"wait…why don't we hang out for a little while longer, maybe show me around HQ," Altair pleaded, making Maria slightly shake her head in disagreement. "it would be nice to spend some time with a familiar face; afterwards I will have to burden myself to have to face my father, which I am not looking forward to, anyways" he shrugged.

Maria gave him an incredulous look, "just your father? I thought you knew," she said raising her brows at him, shifting on her feet awkwardly.

Altair had confusion in his eyes, and so did Malik, both of them narrowing their gaze at her. Altair took a moment before speaking again, "what are you talking about?"

"your father isn't the only one you should be worried about," she said, concerning her golden eyed friend.

"what?- you mean Clay?" he questioned.

"no, I am talking about…"

"Altair~," a woman shouted, pouncing onto Altair's back, almost making him fall forward. He grunted as the newcomer was wrapping her arms tightly around his neck, choking the life right out of him. Maria went slump, already too late to warn him.

"Adha?" he managed to breathe out, quickly recognizing her squeaky voice. He grasped her arms and flung her off of him. She fell on her feet, almost stumbling backwards.

"what's wrong, Alty….I thought that you would be happy to see me," she pouted, taking a step closer to him, as he was rubbing his now sore neck. Malik was puzzled for a moment, staring at the woman that was flirting with his partner. He was trying hard to make his mind lucid; who is she? Is she his girlfriend? Are they even together? He didn't know for sure, until now.

"what…what are you doing here?" he asked, not even believing that the she-devil was actually here.

She laughed, "I was given orders to be transferred, again; I was sent to provide medical treatment at this dump, and give aid to these wannabe assassin's" Maria grimaced at that, Adha took notice, ignoring her.

Adha attempted to wrap her arms around Altair's neck again, calmly to bring him closer. Altair brushed her off, forcing her to keep her distance. "Adha, stop this already, we aren't a couple anymore," he snapped.

"oh…still playing along with this 'let's break up' game of yours, I see," she sneered, Altair just rolled his eyes at her. He bit his lower lip, holding back a sigh.

"Adha, I am not playing with you, there is no pretense in my words, every word I said to you, I meant it," he growled under his breath. Adha furrowed her eyes, as he continued, "so whatever it is that we are now, doesn't matter; We. Broke. Up!"

"NO. WE. DID. NOT!" she yelled loudly, panting harshly, tiny locks of her wavy black hair was falling over her face. Altair was shocked at her sudden outburst, looking around to see how silent the mess hall became. He quickly glanced over to Malik with the same facial expression as him, shifting on his feet, feeling slightly awkward now. Altair glared back at her, having half a mind to punch her in the face; it wouldn't be the first time he had to get physical with women, on missions perhaps, but this is different, instead he had to try to cool her down.

"Adha, calm down" he whispered, noticing the crowd of people around them talking amongst themselves again, ignoring them finally.

"No!...I want to know why you keep pushing me away," she demanded, raising her girly voice slightly, "just because I had to leave to another country, doesn't mean that you could call quits on our relationship," the scarred mouth man stayed silent, looking anywhere but at her. She finally blurted out a thought, "oh…I see now…the only reason you dumped me is because you found someone else, isn't that right?" Adha questions, putting her hands on her hips, Altair glowered at her, mouth open to say something, but Adha cut him off, "so where is your new girlfriend, huh? do I know her?" she looks over to Maria, "is it this bitch!" she gestures with her head at her; Maria widen her eyes at the younger lady, who started to smirk at her.

"Adha, enough!" Altair stepped in front of her, wanting to draw attention away from Maria, "it isn't about a girl, alright" he snarled. Adha blinked her eyes a few times, taking in those words slowly.

She started to glance at Malik, who was keeping his eyes on her as well; she started eyeing him up and down with a scowl, then looking back to Altair again, "so…it's a guy!" she yells almost loudly, attracting attention once again. "that is so disgusting!" Malik narrowed his gaze at her, gritting his teeth, trying really hard to hold back a sudden outburst of his own.

"I've had enough of your bullshit; this has nothing to do with anyone, Adha, get that through your damn head!" he said quietly, trying to avoid any more attention in the cafeteria. Adha wanted to speak up again, but Maria thought it was the right time to intervene.

She stuck her hand in between the two, "hey, Altair…maybe I will just go, alright," she said, as she was sliding through them to take her leave at the entrance of the mess hall. "so…I'll just see you later, okay." She gave him a warm smile, then went out the doors, leaving the three alone. Altair frowned, watching how Adha was waving her hand off to Maria tauntingly, as she had left. He literally face palmed himself, feeling embarrassed of the rude behavior his ex-girlfriend had performed in front of his friends and everyone in the mess hall. He sighed deeply, hoping this was all just a nightmare he was having and will wake up, eventually. Malik stood next to him, seeing how frustrated Altair was getting. He was actually feeling sorry for the guy, even though he thought that Altair would be the last person in the world to ask for sympathy.

Malik gripped onto the taller man's shoulder, Altair peaked through his hand to see his concerned partner, "Altair, if you want to be alone, I could.."

"No...you are staying with me Al-Sayr," he snapped. Malik blinked at the others threatening, yet husky words, making him blush slightly. Altair turned his glare back at Adha, who was waiting impatiently, "listen, Adha I..."

"no, you listen to me," she cut him off, "you and I need to talk about your issues," Altair made a face at her, but she didn't seem to notice. "we finally have a chance to be together, so maybe we can try to make things work between us," she said softly, Altair rolled his eyes at her, "maybe we can talk about it over lunch, and maybe I can show you around HQ, if you want," she said smiling at him, placing her hands on his chest. He sighed, pushing her gently, she was frowning yet again.

"actually…" he started, wrapping an arm around Malik shoulder, pulling him closer to him. Malik was blushing again, confused to what Altair was doing right now. "I had asked Al-Sayr to be my guide, and he says that he would be more than happy to." he patted the shoulder of the smaller man, making a big grin. "right, Mal?"

"I..I did?...ah!" he gasped out as the grip on his shoulder tighten uncomfortably, Altair stared into his eyes, giving that same threatening look from before. Malik quickly bit his lower lip, fighting the pain, "ye..yeah, I did, thanks for reminding, Altair," he said, giving a pained smile, looking up at the taller man who still had that wide grin on his face. Adha was oblivious to what just happened, but nonetheless, she bought it.

Altair began shoving Malik towards the door way, leaving the crazy bitch behind; "are you sure?" she called after him.

He gave a short glance in her direction, "yeah, I'm sure; I'll see later, okay," before she could answer back they were gone. She stood still, huffed an irritated breath, and moving to the other direction.

Altair dragged Malik by the arm, going down the hallway, not slowing down for a second. They passed through a group of people; bumping into them roughly, they started hissing out curses at the pair. Malik feeling annoyed, almost tripped over, not able to keep up with the scarred mouth man. "Altair…wait," he tugged his arm free, earning another glare from the other as they halt. "we lost her already, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't follow us; especially after you just lied to her," he pointed out; Altair relaxed his shoulders, sighing exaggeratedly, as if he just escaped death. He leaned on the wall, pulling up his hoodie, covering his face once again. The smaller man continued to stare at him, until he spoke up again, "are you alright, Altair?" he said, his voice full of concern.

"yeah, I'm fine," he said quickly, "I am sorry about earlier, I didn't mean to hurt you." He gestures to the smaller man's right shoulder; Malik grasped his shoulder softly, massaging it carefully.

"it's alright, Altair, you didn't do much damage to my shoulder."

Altair kept his gaze on Malik, leaning his head against the wall, "you…do you want me to take a look," he asked, starting to smirk.

Malik had a blush across his face, "no…no, it's fine, really," he assured the taller man.

"are you sure, I could kiss it better for you?" he said softly.

"WHAT?" Malik's blush increased.

"I was only kidding, Mal" he grinned, laughing at his reaction.

"you are so funny…" Malik said sarcastically, "and you are not to address me as that silly nickname; you and I are partners now, so let's respect each other as such," he scolded, Altair just rolled his eyes. Malik decided to change the subject, "so…will you be alright, knowing that 'she' is here?" gesturing with his head to the cafeteria they had left.

Altair sighed again, "yeah, I'll be just fine, it's just…I just can't stand Adha; it's just that she is 'so' fucking annoying…probably one of the reasons I dumped her in the first place!" he exclaimed.

"one of the reasons? There is more to this chick?" Malik asked, chuckling at the complaints that his partner was making.

"don't get me started.." Altair laughed, pushing himself off the wall, they both started walking, reaching a corner of the hallway; they turned at the corner, seeing a rectangular spacious area, first floor having office desks aligned in each row; stairs connecting to the second floor, more offices occupying there as well; there was at least three or four floors above the second that might be occupied as well. There was also a big fountain in the center of the first floor, with colorful flowers sprouting in every direction; bringing out some colors in this dull area, besides that, there were gray flags pinned to the walls, with red symbols of the assassin's logo. There were more people wearing office attire, talking with others that were wearing their hoodies, belts with equipment across their torsos, and arm bracers, each with a hidden blade. Altair was awestruck by this facility, his eyes widen, mouth gapped opened; it was surprising how big this place was, probably bigger than a mall. "all of this…is underground?" he asked as looked at Malik with a surprised face.

"yes," he said simply, looking through Altair's hood, almost seeing his shocked expression. "otherwise, how else are we to hide headquarters, when there are Templars lurking around in the city." He smiled at the other, "we can't be too careful…"

"so….what do you do here in this place?" he asked another question, gesturing with his thumb.

"this 'place' is an office, where assassins have to bring information that they collected from their current operations, in order to proceed any further; not only that, but this is where we can gather some resources for our assigned missions that are necessary." He explained.

"fascinating," Altair said, making a false interest.

"very…" Malik agreed, "but it is important to know that you aren't allowed to start your mission without being authorized."

"authorized? I need to have permission? By who?" Altair asked, raising his eyebrows under his hood.

"brother!" Malik turned to the familiar voice, his little brother running up to them. Walking behind him was a pale thin man, with medium short blonde hair, wearing casual dark blue shirt, green cargo pants, simple sandals, and a red beret hat. Malik smiled to the both of them, seeing how happy Kadar was, his grin wide, blue eyes glistening. That could only mean one thing….

"Kadar…I am guessing that you did well in your training," he asked the younger, more of a statement than a question.

Kadar stood a few feet from his brother, making him anticipate the answer, "well, since you asked….I did amazing!" he raised both arms in the air in triumph, showing off the color stripes of blue on his sleeves of his hoodie, a rank higher above a novice in training. Malik chuckled at his brothers little victory, congratulating him by patting his shoulder. The younger brother continued, "they did say I needed more work on my hand-to-hand combat skills, but I did so well with my parkour and my aiming skills in shooting exercises, they passed me like that," he gestures by snapping his fingers. "that means I can be able to go on real missions, just like you, Malik."

"that is great, Kadar," Malik chuckles, hugging his brother for a short moment, moving back and resting his hands on the boys shoulders, "I am very proud of you, brother." Altair couldn't help but smile briefly at their brotherly moment; he was feeling some slight discontent within himself, actually feeling jealous…in a way. Malik turned his attention to the blonde behind his brother. "Leonardo, why are you with my brother, I thought you would be working?" he asked softly.

"oh, yes…your brother had asked me a couple of days ago to see him perform his tests, so I skipped work today, just for him." the blonde responded, shrugging his shoulders.

Malik looked at his brother then back to him, "thank you, Leo, for being there for him; especially when I am too busy to go see my brother myself," Leonardo smiled at him, nodding his head to the other. Malik brought their attention to Altair, "Kadar, Leo, this is Altair, my assigned partner," he gestures with his hand to the taller man. Leo gave a warm smile to the other, as for Kadar, his jaw dropped, eyes wide open; Malik took quick notice of his brother, seeing him raise a shaky hand, trying to point to Altair as if he was going to accuse him of something.

The man Kadar was looking at was exactly how his brother had described the man in his dreams, and to be seeing him in person was truly shocking, same complexion, same height, wearing a hood, and the most obvious one of all, the scar on the right corner of his mouth, "your….your that guy-Mmm!" he was cut off when Malik clasped his hand over Kadar's mouth, silencing the boy; Altair quickly frowned at the two brothers, so did Leo.

Malik narrowed his eyes at the younger brother, "if you can't say anything nice, brother, then don't say anything at all," he gave a warning in his tone. Nobody knows about his dreams, or what causes them to happen; the only people that do know are the ones that tried to help him in therapy, but using it as an only resort, and his brother, Kadar. So it would become very awkward for him to confront the one person that he dreams about almost frequently, so he decided to keep it that way.

Kadar removed his brothers hand, gasping in some air, "uh…what I was trying to say is…before my brother interrupted me…that you look familiar, have we met?" he said carefully, trying not to upset his brother further.

Altair stared at the boy, completely puzzled of the odd behavior the brothers were having, "no, don't think so," he shrugged, "but maybe you have seen my two cousins around, we do have some similarities." The boy frowned, feeling like an idiot for bothering to ask; now he feels more uncomfortable knowing that there are two others just like him walking around. This was getting creepier by the second.

"Altair…" Malik started, getting the other's attention, "as I was saying before, Leonardo Da Vinci here will be the one to keep you and your cousins advised, instructing you of when to begin a new mission that is available at the time."

Altair raised an eyebrow from under his hood, focusing more on the name than the fact that the blonde man was their adviser, "Da Vinci?"

"yes….I do get that same reaction from other people; sometimes they think that I am just being modest with myself, since I have a part time job as an art teacher," he explained with a nervous smile, "so a lot of people don't really believe that my last name is Da Vinci." Altair didn't show any emotion, he just nodded his head at the artist, letting the other know that he was able to comprehend that.

"Altair!" hearing his name from a distant voice, he turned around looking down the hallway he had just exited, seeing his two cousins walking up to him, with Yusuf tagging along behind them.

"Ezio….and Desmond? So, you've finally decided to join up with us, huh? I would have thought that you ditched us for that 'hottie' of a partner of yours" he accused, glancing at the American. Desmond frowned, pouting at his cousin's assumptions, rolling his eyes at the other, ignoring what he just said. Meanwhile, Ezio spots a familiar blonde, who was staring at him as well; he made a nervous smile at the artist, and the artist in return gave a faint smile back. Altair took quick notice of his cousin's behavior with Leonardo, afterwards continuing on with the topic, "speaking of which, where is she? I thought she would be sticking around with you?" Altair inclined his head side to side, looking around the three newcomers, "and where is Clay?" he growled.

"uh…well, Lucy had some business to discuss with Clay, so I was left with Ezio and Yusuf when they left," Desmond responded, rubbing the back of his head with his hand. "but don't worry, we'll be seeing him tomorrow before we start our missions," he added.

"oh joy" Altair said bitterly, digging his hands into his pockets once again.

Malik gave him a disapproving look, getting slightly irritated with his partner's attitude towards Clay. He bites his lower lip, holding back a harsh remark to say to the taller man, "well, now that the cousins are back together, why don't I show you to your private room." He gestures with his hand in a direction; Altair follows, and the other two assassins followed after them, leaving Yusuf, Leo, and Kadar to carry on with their business.

Malik had leaded the three down a staircase, going further down underground. They had discussed over a few subjects about the base, learning of new areas they could visit later. Ezio had mentioned finding a pool near a fitness center when he went around exploring HQ; Altair instantly felt shivers down his spine, feeling uneasy on that topic. Malik saw how quiet Altair had gotten suddenly, but thought it be better not to ask. They finally stop in a center of two hallways, one going left and the other right, the raven haired man chose the left side, having the three follow suit. These hallways were different though, these ones are with colors this time; colors of the walls a dark red, the tile floor in a shade of black mixed with blue. They had passed a few numbered doors, finally reaching the end of the hallway, stopping in front of a white door with a carved number 17 on it. Malik took out a silver key, putting it into the lock, opening the door with ease. They looked inside the dark room to see made beds, that haven't been touched in a while, with nightstands next to each bed. There was a large white rug with the assassin's logo on it underneath the beds, sort of like the flags upstairs did. There was a kitchen across from the beds, and a bathroom in the right side of the room, and finally a medium flat screen television was on the wall above one of the beds.

"well, here we are…" Malik says, looking at the three, tossing the key to Ezio. "this room used to belong to me and two other master assassins, but due to a mishap in our mission they were KIA, and the room has now been vacant for years," he explained, "so….enjoy."

"why hasn't anyone occupied this room yet?" Altair asked, suddenly interested.

"these rooms are only reserved for master assassins, yet some of them refuse to live under the base; considering their higher rank, they believe they deserve better than this kind of room." The three gave Malik an incredulous look and he sighs, "look, compared with the other rooms, this is the best you will get."

"huh, I guess coming here was a mistake then," Altair stated coldly, Malik had grimaced at that. Desmond and Ezio had already settle themselves onto their chosen beds, Altair was standing around the room, taking in every little detail, as if inspecting the place. "hmm….I guess this will do….I just don't get it, how could people work under these condition, I mean underground," he says, meaning for it to be a rhetorical question.

"oh trust me, you'll get used to it," Malik assures them. "now let me be sure to clarify the rules of the creed to you three."

"is this necessary?" Ezio whined.

"yes" Malik quickly answered, having a serious tone, "first rule: always be discreet, even when you are out in public acting as a civilian, you can never be too careful; second rule: do not harm the innocent, unless they are in any way in league with the Templars, continue to stay your blade," Malik explained over the two of the three tenets, Desmond was the one to roll his eyes at the smaller man, Altair and Ezio sitting slump on their beds, waiting to get the third part over with. "and third rule: never compromise the brotherhood, and you are in no way, to disobey the order…..break any of these tenets and there will be trouble, is that clear?"

"yes MOM, we get it…" Desmond snapped at the raven haired man, "this isn't the first time we had to get lectured about the tenets of the creed; we are already familiar with the first and third rule, and don't even worry about the second rule."

"oh, is that right?" Malik started, willing to challenge the younger, "I have read over some of your records of your previous residences around Italy…" he paused for a moment, "and I have to say, what you pulled off is very despicable," he narrowed his eyes at the younger, and in return he earned a glare. Ezio snickered; having many flashbacks of times he had brought a group of girls back at their headquarters and having a wild party; he and his cousins had gotten a lot of shit from their superiors for that. Desmond lowered his head in embarrassment, Malik feeling triumphed, turned around to leave the room, but stopped to glance at the three one more time, "rest, prepare or in your case Mr. Miles, go cry in a corner…" Desmond instantly glared at the darker man again, but Malik took his eyes off the younger to see the other two, "you will have to get up early tomorrow; Lucy, Yusuf and I will greet you in the morning, and begin our assigned objectives." Malik glanced over to Altair, "sleep well, Altair" the hooded man smiled at the other, and with that, Malik closed the door shut behind him. Desmond fell back on his bed in relief, and Ezio sat on his bed, starting to unpack his clothes from his backpack and luggage.

Altair sat on the edge of his bed, looking at his Italian cousin with mischievous eyes, "so Ezio…who was that blonde you were smiling at a while ago?"

"_che_?" the Italian stopped what he was doing for a moment.

"Oh…a blonde you say, is she hot?" Desmond asked with much interest in his eyes, starting to sit on the edge of his bed.

"you mean Leonardo," the Italian answered.

"eh…never mind!" the American retreated back to lay down on his bed.

He hesitated for a moment, "okay, let me explain…" Ezio started off, Altair listening closely to his cousin, "Leonardo and I, we used to be a couple; it didn't last long though, not even a year we got together, we had eventually broke up.."

Altair sighed, bothering to ask, "why?"

"I rather not say, _cugino_" Ezio said calmly to him, almost feeling weary of the subject; he continued to unpack. Altair was feeling a bit guilty for bringing this subject up, so he decided to drop it.

Desmond quickly sat on his bed, to stare at Altair, turning the tables on the man "and what about you, Altair…" the American started. The hooded man gave a glare to his cousin, "you seemed to be quite comfortable with Malik's company, but the thing is, you don't like anyone's company; I am surprised that he hasn't pissed you off yet…I guess that would explain much"

"where are you getting at, Miles?" Altair said rather harshly.

"I saw how you kept looking at Malik, it's obvious that you like the guy," he said smugly, "I also know that women aren't the only ones that you have interest in, Altair; so this wouldn't exactly be the first time you would 'involve' yourself with another man,"

Altair sat up straight, clenching his hands tightly, "hey, it is nothing like that; Malik and I are just partners, this is strictly business, nothing more," he stated sternly, Desmond shook his head, though had a skeptical smile on his face. Altair was shifting in his bed, finding a position to lie down, "besides, he probably doesn't feel that way about me, nor do I know if he is straight or not….though, I do find him rather…cute."

"cute?...and what is that supposed to mean, ibn La'Ahad?" Desmond pressed onto another questions. Altair shifted his body again, facing the wall, his back to the American now. "Altair!" Desmond shouted to the hooded man, the other flipped him the bird in response; pulling out his earphones placing them into his ears, playing his music on full blast, ignoring the American. Desmond threw his hands in the air in irritation, he got off his bed to unpack his things, leaving the Arabic alone. Altair tuned out with his music, letting his thoughts drown out completely; he would usually do this to forget all the things that seemed to be bothering him, and it worked most of the time. He was feeling exhausted from today; his eyes were becoming heavy, his vision becoming dark as he drifts off into sleep.


	5. Chapter 4: Taking care of business

**Okay...finally I got through this chapter, my goodness. I really did try my best to make a father son quarrel. Yes so the story is finally getting somewhere, and...wait are those OC's in this chapter, omg run for ur life!**

**yeah so anyways I am finally getting into the interesting parts as I continue to build up the story...but I will assure you the next chap will have some AltMal romance...sorta...Ooops am I spoiling again, Allahdammit!**

* * *

**Late Morning, at 11:50 a.m.**

Malik sat impatiently on the bench right outside of a café shop, waiting for Altair to get his coffee, which seemed to be his third cup that morning. The others had already left to do their objectives, but Malik and Altair were getting behind on their schedule, and Altair was not a morning person, should he had realized; He woke up feeling cranky, very cranky. Malik had tried everything he could to wake up his partner; Altair would have torn Malik's head off for it, if the other wasn't keeping his distance from him. It was even worse when Malik tricked him in taking a cold shower to wake him up completely; the outcome of it was not pleasant. Afterwards, they had gotten breakfast burritos to eat, and coffee drinks. Though, Altair was still falling asleep due to grogginess. He had gotten a second cup twenty minutes ago, but it still didn't help much; now this is the third time leaving for another.

Malik sighed, pulling out his cell phone to check the time, it was still early; the informant that he had had texted a while ago 'to meet him and his partner here' had not shown up yet. "where the hell is this guy," he muttered and sighed, he leaned back against the wall of the store, trying to relax on the wooden bench. He heard the bell ring from the door that just opened; Altair exited out the shop, taking a sip of his hot drink before sitting down next to smaller man. Malik sat up straight, raising an eyebrow as he started to smirk, "feeling better, Altair."

Altair glanced at him while drinking his coffee, he stopped for a second to swallow, "yeah….thanks for treating me to breakfast, Malik." Altair took another chug of his drink before speaking again, "but I still think it was unnecessary."

"it's the least I can do for what happened earlier," he shrugged, remembering how close he was to getting strangled to death by his golden eyed friend after the morning shower incident. "besides, I couldn't take any more of your childish behavior in the morning."

"I was being childish." Altair made an accusing glance at the other, "yeah, whatever Malik." He takes another sip of his coffee.

Malik looked at his partner for a brief moment, "and I thought waking Kadar up in the morning was bad," they both laughed. Malik took out his cell again, half expecting to receive a new text from the informant again.

Altair peered over next to Malik, looking at the phone as well. "so, anything new from the informant? shouldn't he be here by now?"

The raven haired man blushes, realizing how close Altair had gotten to him, "well….he did send me a text saying he would be here within five minutes."

"okay….and how long ago did you receive that text."

Malik hesitated a moment, "ten minutes ago…" Altair sighed deeply, leaning his head against the wall. He kept his eyes on every pedestrian that walked pass them, looking carefully at them to expect one of them to give him a dirty look; he was already bored, and he was eager to pick a fight with someone to take his frustration off on them, Templar or not. Altair knew better though, and he sure wasn't going to do such a thing, not here, not now, and definitely not in front of Malik. He was about to start up another conversation, but closed his mouth shut when he saw a man walk up to them and sitting on the bench with them. He was wearing a light gray hoodie, a dark brown scarf wrapped around his neck, and had dark gray stripes on the sleeves. This color rank is the only color that informants have, so this must be their guy.

"safety and peace, brothers."

The other two nod their heads in greeting, "what news do you have for us?" Malik asked.

"I have gotten information that a man named William of Montferrat, may have connection to Abstergo," he pauses as the two assassins listen closely, "he owns a nightclub over at the poorer district of the city, it is called 'perfection,' a place that is not very well known in the city, but is still popular around that area."

Altair scoffs at the name, "club perfection? That must be….the dumbest name for a club I have heard in my life…ever."

Malik took a moment to analyze the name, "wait….club perfection?...sounds like the same place that my brother goes to when he hangs out with his friends, the one on...uh…acre street, right?"

"that is the one…" he answered, "it is popular among young adults mostly, especially to teenagers; this is one club that allows any age, especially under the age of eighteen to enter, as long as they are willing to pay the right price…..and let me tell you…it is not cheap, my friends."

"huh, that is so professional of them" Altair raised an eyebrow at that statement. "so…what else do you know of our target?"

The informant continued on with the topic, "oh yes well….I also know that he only attends at the club at such a late time, sometimes he would be around by midnight, to see how his business is progressing; so you two will be doing your investigation late at night." he gave a glance to the both of them, looking from under his hood, "go back to HQ, I will have my brother, Huda, meet you there, and discuss with him of the information I have shared with you; he will be accompanying you at the club, should you need the help, of course." Altair grimaced at that, and the both of them nod their heads to the informant, taking their leave back to base.

* * *

Altair and Malik had spent hours speaking with Huda about their target; Huda did give much description of who to look for, he even had pictures taken of the man going in and out of the nightclub from time to time. He did indeed have better luck at gathering information than his brother did, for he had been snooping around the nightclub many times; he had almost got caught sneaking around, and was question for looking suspicious around the club every single night. Altair had to admit, Huda does seem to have a knack at obtaining information; he will be sure to keep him in mind, should he need the help in any other tasks. Anyways, he still felt unhappy about bringing someone else along, since he already has to work with his partner for his assigned mission.

The day was going by quickly; Altair didn't even notice how much time had passed. His cousins came back later after their short talk with informants, very lost with what information they had gotten. Not much luck for them about their current target, but at least Altair had a lead; if it turns out to be what he expects is true. He had later joined his cousins in the fitness center at around 6:30 p.m. Altair was taking his mind off of things while jogging on the treadmill, listening to his heavy metal music, as always. Ezio was assisting Desmond with his sit ups; kneeling in front of the American, holding onto the other's knees and counting every time Desmond attempted to lean his upper body forward and back down. "so…any luck on the first day?" he finally asked.

"no, not really…and you?" Desmond grunted under his breath, going slower on his crunches.

"well….I did manage to get something; I am to investigate a restaurant just in the south of the city." He responded, his hands loosening his grip on Desmond's knees; the American stopped, deciding to lie down on the floor, his head resting on his hands. "what the informant had told us is that we need to stalk someone, apparently; sounds pretty boring if you ask me…I hate stalking missions" he looked down at Desmond then turned to Altair who finished his jog and got off the treadmill to retrieve a towel close by. "hey Altair, how's it going with you?" he asked loudly for the other to hear him through the loud music.

The Arabic was drying his face from the sweat dripping down his forehead, he gave a quick glance to his Italian cousin, "Malik and I are to investigate someone at a club later on tonight, but that is all we got. We were told that our target may have a connection to Abstergo…" He tossed his towel to the side and grabs a water bottle from his bag, after taking a long chug he continues, "it really sucks though, we have to bring along someone else with us to help with the mission….and you both know how much I hate that."

"well…that is good…" Ezio tried to lighten the mood, "it is good that we are at least getting some help; earlier in the morning, Yusuf and I had been accompanied by two other assassins." Altair raised an eyebrow at the Italian. Desmond sat up still taking a breather. "they happen to be Italians too; they had recently transferred here from Italy just yesterday, like we did. At first I thought they were a couple, but afterwards they turned out to be only siblings." He explained to the two, as he was standing up, "I liked the brother, and I became good friends with the sister, her name is….Alberta Valentino, I believe" Altair rolled his eyes, stuffing his used towel and water bottle into his gym bag.

"that is very interesting to hear, Ezio." Altair said sarcastically, glaring at the Italian, "why exactly are you telling us this?" He grabbed his hoodie on a bench and put it on.

"come on, _cugino_….we are living in the US, your old home, we get the chance to start over and meet new people; is it so wrong to make friends?" he asked with a nervous smile.

"I. don't. make. friends." Altair sneered at the other, zipping up his gym bag roughly, and tossing his over his shoulder.

"but…aren't you friends with Malik?" Desmond added, still sitting on the floor smirking as the other glared down at him annoyed.

"Malik is a different story; we are forced to work together, so really, that doesn't mean that I want to be friends with the guy." He snapped, glaring at both his cousins. "since when do we even need help from anyone else, we can handle things on our own, with or without a partner!" Desmond and Ezio were puzzled at the sudden change of feelings Altair exclaimed of his partner.

"whoa, you are suddenly a lot more grumpy than usual, why are you acting like this? I thought you liked Malik." Desmond fixed his glare at the Arabic, giving a disappointed look at the other. Altair turned his gaze down at his feet, realizing what he had just said, feeling almost ashamed…almost being the key word.

The tension had died down when Clay came up to them. "Umar wishes to see you now…" he informed Altair. The Arabic sighed heavily, nodding his head to his step brother and followed after Clay.

Altair gave a quick glance to Desmond, "this is why…" he turned away walking with Clay out of the fitness center.

"wait Altair, will you be joining us for lunch later on?" Ezio called after him quickly, not getting any response. Desmond finally stands up, continuing to glare at the departing assassin.

* * *

Altair was able to change out of his workout clothes, and into appropriate clothing; he was sure to wear his hoodie on, shielding his eyes from anyone that dared looked at him, and recognizing him on the way. He felt like he was about to have an anxiety attack, as he nears close to an office at the end of a hallway Clay has leaded him to. He almost walked an inch ahead of Clay, trying his best to be confident with himself. As they had reached their fathers office they had hesitated; Clay glanced at Altair, making sure the other is well prepared for what is to come. The paler man held up his hand to knock on the door, but the door had suddenly opened, surprising the two. There stood a tall older man, tan skin, dark brown grayish hair gelled back, a small beard around his jaw. His attire was just a black suit, blood red tie, and a silver pin with the assassin's symbol on his left side of his chest. He gave a glare to the two, his frown increasing in disgust. Altair gave the same reaction to the other, looking deep into the older man's eyes. The older man shook his head, hastily pushing the other two aside; Altair narrowed his eyes as the older man pacing towards the exit, half expecting the other to give one more threatening glance at him; he really wanted to punch that man's face in for some reason. He turned his attention to another older man sitting at his desk, looking like he had an upset smile on his face. "Altair, you may enter." He calls for him; Altair glanced at Clay for a moment, then walks into the office, as Clay closes the door behind him. "would you like to take a seat?" the older man gestures to a seat in front of the desk.

"no…I rather stand." Altair said quickly. Umar understood as he just nod his head to the other.

"very well," the older man adjusted himself in his seat, "I do apologies for my friend's behavior just now, Al-Sayr can be quite unhappy with other peoples presence." Altair had guessed that, just by receiving a deathly glare just a second ago.

'wait…did he just say Al-Sayr? Is that guy related to Malik in some way? Is he his father or something?' Altair had thought to himself, feeling as though he gave a bad impression to the other. "I thought he looked…familiar." Altair finally said, making his father chuckle.

"yes….I was told you are partners with his son." Umar gave a large grin to his son.

Altair hesitated a bit, 'yep, definitely Malik's father', he nodded his head to the older man. "yeah, we have become well acquainted with each other; just so you were wondering." The younger was feeling uneasy about this topic, already predicting what his father was about to bring up.

"that is good to hear…" the older man started, leaning himself forward over his desk. "you know I was this close to convincing the order not to assign you a partner, but I was denied countless times. Though, under your circumstances, they believed that you would be quite…incompetent…even without one; so I guess that would make sense to me." Altair frowned, locking his eyes with his father's.

"why exactly did you want to see, Umar," the younger said, crossing his arms over his chest in irritation.

The older man sighed, "I would like to know how you were doing, my son, it has been quite a while since we last saw each other when you had left after all these years; what I merely wish to discuss is some… 'details' about your time in Italy."

"discuss…or berate me?" Altair sneered as the older man raised a brow. Umar's grin turned into a frown at the negative attitude his son was giving him, well that was nothing new. Altair stiffened where he stood, glaring dagger eyes at the man that was standing up from his desk. "isn't that the only reason why you wanted speak to me?"

"Altair, I am only being sincere, I only want to speak about business, you know that." The old man said, giving an innocent look as the younger Arabic shook his head lightly.

"bullshit!" Altair growled. "the only time you would even bother to speak with me is when you feel the need to scold me about a mission I have failed and there are times that you would like to remind me of how much of a 'fool' I can be for disregarding the creed every now and then."

Umar sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose, "am I not allowed to be concerned about you? I always do fear for what dangers you get yourself into on your missions, but a lot of misfortunate events had occurred because you allow your actions get the better of you." Altair rolled his eyes, shaking his head in disbelief knowing that his father couldn't care less about him. "I warn you, Altair, you will eventually do something to put yourself in danger and get yourself killed, or you might even put someone else in danger, like your partner, for example…"

"oh what, are we suddenly talking about my partner now? Of course you would bring this up again…" Altair said coldly, narrowing his eyes at the suddenly quiet older man. "I cannot believe you still don't trust me, you actually think that I would dare use him as some shield for my own satisfaction; I am not some self-absorbed child, Umar….you can't keep assuming that I would turn my back on someone because I think of them as a liability." The older man had a incredulous look on his face, not buying it for a second. Altair took a confident step closer as he continues to scowl, "I have learned from my past mistakes before, I am old enough to understand that now." He was now a few feet from the other's desk, looming over as if trying to seem intimidating, "if this is your way of criticizing me with your pathetic lectures again, then you are wasting your time, all of your pointless rambling won't get you any-" Umar slammed a fist onto the desk, startling the young Arabic and stopping him from his bold speech; he stood up to his full height meeting the young assassin with the same look he had just a moment ago.

"and that is why you still fail to understand, Altair!...I know for a fact that you still do whatever you want as you please; you think I don't know what damages you have caused while you were in Italy? I was informed of how you had disobeyed your superiors and took everything into your own hands; you had disregarded the brotherhood once again, costing the lives of your brothers and almost gotten one of your cousins killed. You are very careless in your missions; you never acknowledged anyone's presence, and only care for yourself!" he spat. The young Arabic was hurt by those words, but he tried not to show it.

"I…you know that isn't true; I don't know why I even bother with you." Altair grimaced, diverting his eyes away from the older man.

Umar sighed again, waiting a moment before speaking in a lower tone, "you know what, you were right before….I still think that you are a fool; your impulsive actions are becoming a nuisance, and I cannot keep protecting your title as master assassin any longer." Umar sat down in his leather chair, keeping his gaze at the younger, "if only your mother was still here…she would be very disappointed in you, as I always have been." Altair could no longer look his father in the eyes; instead he looked away from the older man as his face turned red in anger as his blood was starting to boil. He hastily turned on the balls of his feet to leave the room, "Altair, we are not done-"

"well, I am." The younger replied, gritting his teeth in anger. "coming here was nothing but a waste of my time." Altair swung the door open seeing Clay, who was probably listening in on their conversation through the door, had stumbled back watching as Altair ignored him and slammed the door behind him, nearly causing a few picture frames to fall off the wall of the room. Umar sighed, massaging his temples with his fingertips; he really wanted to make things right with his son, but under these circumstances, it would be impossible. This was going to be hell.

Altair paced his way down the hallway toward the elevator, with Clay right behind, trying to keep up with his brother. "Altair…hold on." Clay sped up, walking by the Arabic's side, "brother….listen to me," he stood between Altair and the elevator in time. "Umar cares about you."

"he has been treating me this way my whole life" The taller man growled. "and because I do things differently, he thinks of me only as a threat."

"that is not true, Altair."

"but it is the truth." The hooded man said quickly, "he only wants to believe that I will be the downfall of the brotherhood; he thinks that it was a mistake for me to come back, this is exactly why I left the United States all these years ago, so I wouldn't be a burden to his eyes any longer." Clay could see hurt feelings behind the scowl of a mask that Altair had on his face, he placed a hand on the Arabic shoulder.

Clay paused and tried for another excuse, "yet you did come back…because…Al Mualim wanted you to; you are one of his best students after all, he was the reason you left on a trip to Italy in the first place, remember?" He made a small smile to encourage his brother, "you know unlike Umar, he sees you worthy of an assassin; he has trust in you, and he has also disregarded all the past events in your life that could have been a detriment to our cause. So isn't that a reason to be here…when you know that there are people here that still have faith in you." Altair frowned, brushing off the others hand; he pressed a button on the elevator, waiting for the door to slide open and leave. "Altair, wouldn't you want to prove yourself, wouldn't you want things to change for you and your father-"

"Umar is your father, not mine….I had stopped being his son for a very long time now." Clay wanted to object what Altair had just established, but stayed silent, "I am the Son of None." The doors finally slides open, and the golden eyed man stepped in without hesitation. He stared into his brother's eyes for a moment, as the doors slowly closed, he was gone. Altair leaned his head back against the wall, dragging his hand over his face, feeling frustrated of the whole situation. It had taken a few minutes for the elevator to stop. He was back in the base, feeling more relieved to be underground…surprisingly. He comes to realize how much time has passed, still too early for his mission; perhaps he would rather start early than later, and try to avoid his father confronting him again. So he really needed to find Malik, and fast. He walked down the long hallway, walking past a couple of people; as he had almost reached the corner, a young lady had made a sharp turn and almost rammed into him.

She stopped just in time to see the hooded fellow, "oh, I am sorry, I was not looking where I was going." She apologized, blushing in embarrassment. Altair observed her voice, she sounded Italian; he smirked to the girl, making her blush even more. "I'm…uh… am sorry-" Altair held his hand up to prevent her from apologizing any further. Altair isn't the type of guy to stop and chit chat with random people like his cousins do, especially when it came to flirting with women, but he thought the young lady was adorable for acting nervous in his presence, so he might as well play the nice guy. The one thought he had in his mind though, was how old is this girl? she must be at the same age as Kadar.

"it is fine…you were clearly in a hurry anyways…..my name is Altair." He said, trying to make her feel more comfortable.

"uh…my name is Alberta." She shifted getting a confident stance. When Altair heard her name, he quickly thought about something familiar about it; yes, he had heard Ezio blabbering about some Alberta chick. Maybe this was the girl 'Alberta Valentino' he may have heard about, but he must be certain.

"Alberta Valentino, right?" her eyes widen at him, a blush appearing over her face. "my cousin, Ezio Auditore, you met him earlier today, correct?" He stated, trying to explain to the girl, making her relax a bit. "Ezio talked about you today, saying how much you and him became close friends." The young girl realizes this, and smiles as she nods her head.

"oh, yes I did meet that man in the morning; he is quite charming, and sweet." She was blushing again, moving a lock of her light brown hair out of her face. Altair rolled his eyes, knowing how predictable his cousin is with random women. "since me and my brother had moved here from Italy just yesterday, we were hoping to make new friends….and so far, I had only become friends with your cousin; it is really hard to make friends in America." She held her hands together behind her back, as she stared down at her feet; she looked back up to the assassin, with a warm smile gracing her lips. "but, maybe now that I met you, I guess we are now friends?"

"I suppose so…" he shrugged his shoulders and dug his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, not feeling interested in the least. He wanted to get back on the subject before he began the introduction. "so…where were you off to anyways?" he asked trying to stay patient, remembering what he was going to do as well.

"I was searching for the mess hall; Ezio wanted me to meet him and my brother there, but I got lost because I… wanted to explore HQ." She said.

Altair chuckled, "well if you are new to this base, why haven't joined along with them while you had the chance."

"because I am too damn stubborn." she pouted, crossed her arms exaggeratedly. The hooded man laughed; she reminded him of himself in a way….perhaps he could start to like this girl.

"why don't I just take you there myself." The young girl looked up at the hooded fellow, with hope shinning in her eyes.

"are….are you sure?" she asked nervously.

"I guess I could make time…I know my way around this place a bit already; besides, your brother might be worrying where you are right now?" he says as he smirks again, making the young teen blush slightly. "afterwards I still need to find my partner…" She nods, allowing him to lead the way to their destination.

* * *

Desmond had sat at a round table with Lucy and Rebecca, they had also invited a guy named…Shaun Hastings, some geeky red head that really hates his company. Every time he would take his eyes off the girls after chatting with them, he would glance a few times unnoticeably, and would notice the red head give a nasty glare at him, but he was unfazed by it. He gave another glance, but Shaun had finally looked into his eyes completely. Desmond turned his head to his direction, "if you have something to say Shaun, then just say it to my face already." He sneered.

"and what would you like to hear me say, Miles? Hmm?" The red head teased, lowering a book he was reading in his hands. "would you like for me to say how much of an incompetent moron I think you are….or would you prefer that I just call you a novice instead, considering how much of a bad reputation you have in the order." Desmond blushed slightly at the other's smart ass remark, having the urge to punch that geek in the face; he would have thought that the records of their time in Italy would be confidential, yet there are a lot of people that seem to know about him and his cousins' activities. Is their reputation really that much of a controversy? Are they really that popular of a topic? Desmond huffed out a breath, doing his best to contain his anger. Ezio had walked up to them with his food tray, smiling at the group, "Hey Ezio" the American greeted, and the other three looked up at the Italian.

"Ciao Desmond," the Italian said happily; he place the tray on the table and sat next to his cousin. Right when Ezio took his seat, another man took a seat next to him, putting down his tray calmly. The man had a similar skin tone as Ezio but had hazel eyes, and had short brown hair; the sleeves of his hoodie had the color of red, which means that he is a master assassin just like Desmond was. The American stared across at the other, and Ezio smiled. "oh, I do apologies…I had asked my new friend, Romano, to join us for lunch, if you didn't mind; he is the one I had mentioned earlier, him and his sister, remember? Romano this is Desmond…" he introduced the other.

"oh, right…" Desmond came to realization of that, "it is nice to meet you." The American said thoughtfully.

"it is a pleasure, Desmond." The Italian newcomer said as he began to smile, acknowledging the others sitting in the same table. "and…where is the other?"

Ezio looked up at the other Italian, while he was munching on his food; he quickly swallowed what he could before speaking, "oh right, I had informed Altair to join us for lunch later, but he had to take care of some business with his father; either way he was not in the best mood to join us anyways." He said disappointedly, Romano rested his hand on the other in an attempt to

"not in the best mood? right~" Desmond chimed, rolling his eyes at Ezio's assumption. "so Altair won't be joining us, big deal; you know, maybe if you had invited 'mother', he would have definitely shown up."

Ezio raised an eyebrow, giving a questioning look. "_scusi_?"

Desmond chuckled slightly, "I am talking about Malik."

"oh….I see now."

"who is Malik?" Romano had asked, making the other two look at each other

Shaun had replied before either of the two could answer, "Malik happens to be partners with Altair; their relative." He explained, he gestures directly at the two assassins sitting across from him. "just like Yusuf is partnered with Ezio, hopefully you will get a chance to meet him, and Lucy being partnered up with….that." this time he had directed the attention only to Desmond. The American scowled at him, taking a huge bite of his sandwich; he was having second thoughts of actually killing the red head where he sits.

"so…why call him mother?" Romano pressed on curiously with the subject.

"it is because of a comment Desmond had said yesterday." Ezio explained, "Malik had criticized us strictly about the creed, kind of the same as a mother would treat her misbehaved children."

"ah…now I see….I'd probably be terrified to meet him now." Romano chuckled to himself.

"speaking of which, there he is now." Ezio conveniently saw Malik from a distance, as the darker man was looking for a spot to sit. "hey Malik, over here!" Ezio yelled out to the other over the crowd of people, waving his hand out above him successfully getting the raven haired man's attention. Malik stood there for a moment and sighed, walking over to the group at the table. The others had greeted him as he sat down where Lucy and Rebecca were, he looked across the table to look at Ezio and Desmond with a narrowed gaze.

"Ezio…" Malik attempted to greet him, and looked at the American, "Desmond…"

"Malik..." Desmond glared at the other; that was the best they could do for now.

Romano smiled, watching as Malik sat from across him, he propped his head up on his hand lazily, having trouble taking his eyes off Malik; he really couldn't believe how attractive the smaller man was. The Italian kept getting lost in the other's eyes, even though Malik was not looking at him directly. He took in the other's appearance as if looking at some famous sculpture in a museum; he suddenly felt his heart beat fast, as he focuses on nothing but the Arabic man. "salve…" he suddenly said absentmindedly, finally getting Malik's attention.

"pardon?" Malik looked confused to the other man sitting next to Ezio; the Italian shook his head from his thoughts and sat up straight.

"this is Romano Valentino; I had just become friends with him today, along with his sister." Ezio had cut in, explaining to him.

"I…uh…it is nice to meet you." He said nervously, earning a curious raise of an eyebrow from the other.

"uh…likewise." Malik made a small smile to the Italian.

"Romano," he heard his sister call out to him, breaking that awkward moment. He jerked his head up to see her walking to the table. "I am so glad I found you guys at last." She sighed.

Romano made a sly grin, "why sister? Did you get lost, like you always do?" Alberta's face turned red, started sticking her tongue out at her brother. Altair had caught up with her, realizing how similar Alberta and her brother look alike; he quickly realized that his cousins where here having lunch with other people….yeah, he had forgotten what Ezio had asked him earlier. He instantly noticed Malik was here as well; he smirked and walked over to the smaller man.

"Malik, it is good that I found you as well…." Malik looked up at the hooded man before him, with a blush tinting his cheeks. Romano took notice of the hooded man, and frowned instantly seeing how Malik's face was flushed….but the other didn't seem to notice.

"so…how did it go with daddy dearest?" Desmond asked ginning at the hooded man. The Arabic clenched his fists, glaring at the other from under his hood.

"fine!" Altair snapped, he quickly grabbed onto Malik's shoulder firmly. "we need to go….now."

Malik blinked a few times, "uh…why? Where are we going?"

"we are going to begin our mission immediately."

"Altair, we can't just do that, have you already forgotten that it is too early to start our investigation? we will not begin until later on tonight." Malik said, raising an eyebrow at the other's demand.

"the sooner we start our investigation at the nightclub, the better we have a chance of knowing when to expect our target." Malik opened his mouth to say something, but Altair continued, "let us just talk with Leonardo, I'm sure he will understand our little rearrangement." Malik made a defeated sigh, looking down at his subway sandwich and a side salad he had yet to touch.

"I have not eaten my food yet, can I at least finish it first?" Malik said to the other. Altair made a scowl, feeling even more impatient than before. He shook his head, grabbing Malik's tray of food and walked over to the nearest trash bin; Malik finally stood up from his seat, watching in shock as Altair dumped his food into the bin. "Altair! What the hell!" the group at the table had witnessed what the hooded man had done, shooting the man a unbelievable look, but the Arabic only shrugged it off.

"good…now you're done, let's go." Altair gestures with his thumb in a direction, and takes leave. Malik rolled his eyes and follows suit, leaving the group behind.

"so…that is Altair?" Romano asked, with a concerned look. Alberta stood where she was, a bit disappointed that her new friend had to leave….and feeling a bit jealous.

"yep…him and Mal are partners, unfortunately." Lucy chuckled, taking a bite of her sandwich.

* * *

Altair and Malik were able to convince Leonardo to allow them to begin their investigation; the two received some tools that would be necessary for their mission, only taking smoke bombs, small blades and their hidden blade, if things were to go wrong. They were each equipped with an ear piece to communicate with the other, so they may have to separate to cover some areas of the building. Altair and Malik had to hide their tools under casual clothing they had chosen just for this kind of occasion. Altair wearing his blue jeans, torn on the knees, white shirt with a dark red shaped eagle on the front, and red polo shoes. Malik wearing a gray shirt with an image of skulls and roses on the top left side of his torso, slim navy blue jeans, and black converse shoes. As they were prepared they put on their regular white hoodies and left to an elevator to take them up, back into the unsuspecting building above the base. Malik had his car parked in the parking garage of the building, so he and Altair will be taking it as transportation. When they had arrived at the car, Malik took his keys out and clicked a button to unlock the car doors; as they had settle into the car seats, Malik maneuver his car out of the garage and out into the streets of the city. After a few minutes passed, Malik couldn't help but notice how quiet Altair had gotten since they had talked with Leonardo; he could sense that something…or someone is troubling him.

The darker man sighed, hesitating a bit before speaking, "is everything alright, Altair?"

"yes," the other replied rather quickly, but had an irritated sound to it. "everything is just….fine." Altair folded his arms over his chest, leaning into his leather seat. Malik of course, wasn't buying it for a second.

"you know Altair, we are partners….so I guess that would technically make us friends." Malik explained, as the golden eyes from under Altair's hood were shooting an unpleasant look at him, sending shivers down his spine. "so…if there is anything that is bugging you, you know you can tell me….okay?" Altair could sense concern in the other's tone, but just ignored it, as usual. His eyes were finally off Malik, and only focusing on the road.

"yeah….whatever." was all that Altair could respond to the raven haired man, as they drove off to their destination.

* * *

**I would like to just explain a bit of Altair's past...as a novice he was arrogant and selfish, only playing by his rules on missions...kinda like how he was in the first game. His father would always disapprove of his actions and treated him like dirt as he grew older. So Altair begged Al Mualim to send him off to Italy for a couple of years, to assassinate some templars...and stuff.**

**well that is pretty much all I will give for now...and I will try to explain it better in another chapter :D**


	6. Chapter 5: Fun time

**OMG...I am sorry this took so long. I just lost my motivation for it, and I started neglecting it. But I got the chapter done...hopefully, I will be in the mood to start on the next one. so, yeah...updates will be slow for this story.**

**p.s. I really can't believe that I am starting to do naughty things in my chapters...that is sooo unlike me. but it is necessary for the story to get interesting...yes?**

* * *

It was getting late when Altair and Malik had arrived, waiting patiently in the parking lot in front of the nightclub. They were already regretting their choice to be there at such an early time, since the informant wasn't there at the moment; after an hour and half has passed, Huda had finally met up with them. As Huda had started explaining over their target again, Altair grew impatient, wondering when this guy was going to shut up and just let them be off. After Huda was finished he had bothered to ask why the pair had to show up earlier than they should have, but seeing how Altair's scowl had exacerbated, he decided to drop that topic. "now…if we are finished." Altair growled, "may we be on our way?"

Huda stared puzzled at the hooded man, feeling uneasy in front of his eyes. "uh….yes…of course." Altair dug his hands into his pockets and stood beside Malik, he nudge the smaller man with his elbow to get his attention. Before they could turn and leave, Huda stopped them, "but before you go….here." he handed them small devices that looked similar to a piece of a watch, having green glowing light with numbers set at 9:00 p.m. Altair looked up at the informant raising an eyebrow at him, "these are small walkie talkies; you can be able to hide them into your pockets, and communicate with me when you have to." He smiled at the both of them. "but…only if you need the help."

Malik took his device and put it into the back pocket of his jeans. Altair hesitated for a moment, eyeing the device, then glaring into Huda's eyes. He took the small device and stuffed it into the pocket of his hoodie. Malik shook his head lightly, he glanced at Huda, "will you not be joining, brother?"

"um…no, I am afraid not." He gave an apologetic bow of his head. "since I have been snooping around here for too long, I cannot risk it…..but do not worry, I will be hanging out here…for now." Altair rolled his eyes and started to depart, with Malik following behind; leaving the informant to do whatever it is he usually does. "good luck!" he shouted to them.

The two assassins were right outside of the club, watching as a crowd of people had entered into the building. There were couples or some were groups of friends, each chatting or laughing as they made their way in through the entrance. There stood two tall men in black suits, shades over their eyes; Altair took notice of a white ear bud in one of the men's ear. He was pressing it close into his ear as if he was listening in on something. 'this would be a problem' Altair thought to himself, thinking that there are more guards on the inside, keeping the whole place under surveillance. Why would they need to keep a run-down club like this under surveillance? Well, it seems to make sense considering that this place belongs to a Templar….nobody seems to realize that, hell Kadar didn't even know about it. Altair gripped onto Malik's shoulder, making the smaller man look at him. "follow my lead." He whispered, and Malik nodded.

Altair walked ahead, as he reached the entrance of the club, only to get a blank look from the security guards. They seem to be eyeing him up and down through their dark shades, what Altair could tell. They watched as the hooded man moved forward through the entrance calmly, without making eye contact. Malik followed afterwards but a calloused hand stopped him from going any further. Altair stopped in his tracks, seeing why his partner halted; he was prepared to strike if the other man was onto them already. He looked at the security guard for a moment, "uh…is there a problem?" he asked, trying to keep the nervousness out of his voice. He was able to see the man raise a brow from behind his shades.

"you look familiar…are you in any way related to Kadar Al-Sayr?" his tone sounded serious, making the smaller man hesitate for a moment and his eyes widen.

"ye…yes" he answered, feeling his heart race in panic.

The tall man started to smile, so was the other as they started to laugh slightly. "no way!...your related to that party animal?" Malik blinked dumbfounded, almost cursing his brother for having such a reputation here.

"I love that kid….he is such a riot." The other guard chuckled.

"you…know my brother?"

"yeah, he would come by at times to have a few drinks with his friends, and there are times that he would DJ for the club just for fun….but you know, every time we would chat with him, he never mentioned having a brother." He crossed his arms.

"yeah, and he has never told me that he is allowed to drink freely; he is underage…you know that, right?" both the guard look at each other with a sly grin, then looked back at the shorter man, shrugging their shoulders. Malik glared at them, holding back an urged to insult their profession of allowing minors to drink in their club…either they knew or not, they didn't seem to care.

Altair grasped onto one of the guards shoulder's, "sorry to interrupt, but you are holding up the line." He said, both the guards were glancing at the line of people standing behind Malik, complaining and whining over the line not moving. The man that stopped Malik from entering before finally moves aside, allowing the smaller man to walk inside. Malik followed close behind his partner, going down a hall up to double doors, they could be able to hear the loud music getting louder and louder. A door opened, a few people smelled of alcohol and….drugs? these people were exiting out of the area, revealing the loud noises of techno music in the background; Altair ignored the smell, and held his hand out to keep the door opened, as they both walked through.

The club was a lot bigger on the inside than they had thought. There are people swarming over on the dance floor, dancing and shaking their hips around, while their hands are up in the air; different color lights were flashing around, making the whole place illuminated and hard to see people. There was a lounge right up ahead, which must have been the VIP section, on the right side was, indeed, a DJ playing on his record. On the left side of the club were table booths, with a bar in the center, as people were ordering drinks.

Malik had taken in his surroundings a second time. He noticed that straight couples aren't the only ones enjoying themselves. Women were dancing with other women; some were not even wearing tops, revealing their big breasts. He also sees a couple of men getting intimate with each other, one in particular holding the other by the waist, pulling him closer, both dancing together to the music. Malik started to blush, looking over at a corner to see people making out and…touching each other. A woman was holding her boyfriend's hand, leading him into a hallway that must be where the restrooms are, probably to have sex; this place was like some orgie club for young adults, it's a surprise no one had complained about this. Malik's face was red, thanking Allah that it was too dark for anyone to see him, especially Altair, who seemed to be enjoying what he sees. "this is my kind of place." The hooded man stated loudly over the music, Malik stared at him with a raised eyebrow.

"you do remember that this place is Templar territory" the smaller man stated, as he glared at the hooded man.

"of course I do.." Altair snapped, nearly wanting to lift his hands in the air dramatically. Altair took his eyes off his partner, inspecting the whole area trying to see through the flashing lights. "follow me." He said, gesturing with his head to the bar. Malik nodded his head, following after his partner once again. Altair did his best to shove everyone aside to make a clear path for him and Malik. They had reached the bar, with Altair taking a seat on the bar stool and trying to get the bartender's attention.

Malik shook his head, crossing his arms, "what are you doing?" he asked sternly.

Altair turned around on his stool, "what?...I thought since we are here, we might as well have some fun." He said, turning his stool back around. Malik frowned, grabbing hold of Altair's shoulder and twisting him around to face.

"we are in the middle of a mission, Altair." Malik snarled, furrowing his brows at his partner.

"and I know that…..why don't you go do your thing." The raven haired man looked at him with a questioning look. "you know…try to go around and ask people about William of Montferrat, see if you can get anything from them, alright?"

"and….what exactly are you going to do?" Malik asked in an annoyed tone.

Altair smirked at his partner, "wait…"

"your such a lazy ass, ibn La'Ahad." Malik turned around, striding through the crowd, not really sure where to begin…..no thanks to his partner. He wasn't even sure if any of these people would know anything about their target. There are some people here that he would rather avoid at all cost, if it meant compromising his mission, he has to choose carefully. Well he is just going to have to rely on his intuition; he spotted two very attractive young women up against the wall, both having a make out session with each other. He calmly walked up to them, tapping one of the girls on the shoulder. "excuse me ladies….may I have a moment of your time, please."

The two young women began to glare at him, as if already suspecting him, until one of them began "sorry honey, but if you want to join in with us, then you're going to have to pay us first."

"no…no I am only here to ask a few questions," he said stuffing his hands into his pockets of his hoodie.

"are you a cop?" the other woman asked.

"no…"

They both looked at each other for a moment; they turned their attention back at him "then go ahead."

"do you know who William of Montferrat is?"

"of course we know, he is the owner of this club."

"okay, and where do you usually see this man?" Malik tried to be patient of receiving the answer.

"we see him go onto the stage just to blabber about stuff….he would do that every night."

Malik looked over at the stage where the DJ is, keeping that noted. "so….he does this every night? And he will be here on stage later on tonight then?"

"yes, sweetheart…" the other woman said, grinning at him.

"thank you….this was most helpful." He turns to leave the two alone.

Malik made his way through the crowd again, having other people bump into him, nearly making him trip. When he reached the bar, his partner was nowhere in sight. He cursed at the man for ditching him; why he didn't even bother to contact him before disappearing was beyond him. Now that he thinks about it, he turns on his communicator to get hold of Altair. There was no response….shit, maybe something bad happened to his partner while he was gone or maybe he may have noticed something already and had left on his own. He felt a strong hand grasp his shoulder; when Malik turned his head to see who it was, it was not Altair. It was just some random pretty boy, most likely drunk off his ass….well that wasn't very attractive. "hey cutie…wanna have some fun." Malik could feel both of his shoulders being touched by the drunken man; he could practically smell the booze come off from him.

Malik broke free from the other's grasp, "what I am looking for, is my partner…now if you excuse me." The man only stepped in his way, "are you going to move or am I going to make you?" he said fiercely, getting even more pissed off.

"well, someone's a feisty one…I like that." The intoxicated man grasps the smaller man's arms tightly, pushing him against the counter of the bar. "you should be hanging out with someone that is worth your time."

"what are talking about?" Malik tries to struggle, "what are you…doing? Let go of me or I'll-"

"you'll what? ….your boyfriend will teach me a lesson….I like to see him try…" Malik's eyes widen at what the other man had said; did he actually think he had a significant other, maybe this man had misinterpret the whole 'partner' thing. Malik tried to break free from the others hands, but the grip on his arms only tighten to a point where it started to hurt. Malik winced at the pain. This guy was surprisingly strong, especially in this condition. So Malik went over his options, beat up this drunken prick and cause a commotion only to get kicked out…or end up getting sexually harassed; he needed a way out of this, he needs some saving and fast. In that moment, as if someone had heard his prayer in thought, a strong arm had shoved the intoxicated man, making him stumble into a group of more drunk people. "what the hell, man!" he shouted, being pushed back on his feet by the group behind him.

Malik quickly looked at his savior; it was Altair with his hood down, giving a glare towards the drunk man. Malik stood upright from the counter, standing close to his partner feeling relieved that he came to his rescue. "you alright, Mal?" he asked the smaller man, not taking his glare off the drunk.

"just who the fuck are you?...I saw him first." Altair raised an eyebrow at the man, not really certain what he meant by that. "oh…wait, you must be the boyfriend…right?" he sneered, he sounded very provoking. This man obviously wanted to start a fight, and on the look on Altair's face, it seemed like he wants to as well. Malik surely didn't want any more trouble than they already; he grabbed onto Altair's shoulder, only earning a short glance from the taller man.

"let's just go, Altair." Malik whispered, but the scarred mouth man just ignored him. Malik's face was turning red with slight anger now; he stood in front of his partner, confronting him, "Altair, I am serious…I don't want you to cause any-" Malik was cut off when he felt a calloused hand groping his ass, making his face even redder. This would be a mixture of anger and some other types of emotions he was feeling….but mostly anger. Altair held the smaller man close to his body, his hand still squeezing firmly. Malik had half a mind to smack Altair across the face, but instead, he only rested his hands on Altair's chest, keeping his head down on the other's shoulder, too embarrassed to even look up at him.

Altair continued to send a deathly glare at the drunk, deciding to move Malik aside, standing in front of him in a protective manner. "this is my piece of ass," he growled, keeping a confident stance. "now unless you want both your hands to end up broken in one night….I suggest you beat it." Malik started to blush again, eyes widening at those words. Did Altair just say that? why would he say something like that if…. No, no he shouldn't jump into conclusions. Altair did this only to save him from this guy…..either that or he just decided to have Malik for himself.

The drunken man almost hesitated almost as if he could comprehend what the other said, staring into those piercing gold eyes; he reconsidered that threat, holding his hands up defensively like some coward, as he walks back slowly. Malik sighed, pushing away from Altair as he watches that drunk walking off, nearly toppling over. "thanks….and if you ever touch me like that again, I will rip your arms off and stuff them down your throat, you understand?" he growled at the taller man, only receiving a smirk and an amused nod of the head. "where were you this whole time?" Malik asked in a calm voice, giving a questioning look at Altair.

"I decided to go around and question people like you were." He said simply, "are you alright?"

"yes, I am fine….in fact, I feel a lot better that we now have a chance to find our target." He smirked.

"you know where he will be?" Altair raised an eyebrow at him.

Malik nodded, "yes, I was told that William goes up on stage every night just to make a few announcements. Once he does we will be able to follow him to his private office, and see if we can get some information out of him." He looks at Altair as if he could read his mind right now, "and no, we will not take it any further and beat the shit out of him just to get it, ibn La'Ahad." Altair pouted, crossing his arms, looking disappointed.

"then, I guess we will have to stick together for now." Altair said, looking off to the dance floor, "since you can't seem to handle things on your own, I'll have to-"

"whoa, hang on….I could have taken care of myself with that drunk a while ago, I never needed your help." He stated as he furrows his brows, even though he knows that isn't true.

"sure you didn't, Mal." Altair chuckled.

"don't. call. me. that." Malik was getting furious, especially now that Altair was bringing up that nickname again.

Altair frowned, "alright….if you want we will split up again."

Malik sighed exaggeratedly, "fine" he started to walk towards the dance floor, stopping to turn back to look at his partner, "but be sure to have your communicator on this time." He informed the other as he storms off. Altair waved him off. Feeling embarrassed that his communicator was off indeed, he quickly turned it on. He began scanning over the dance floor, making sure that his partner was doing fine. Altair huffed, looking over to the stage where a DJ was playing his mix of music, the music playing a lot louder. He actually liked this beat; it's the kind that he would like to dance to, if circumstances were different.

"hi" Altair snapped his head to a beautiful blonde, who was smiling at him with much interest.

Altair chuckled softly, "hey….you need something?" he gave a friendly smile back, leaning on his elbow against the counter.

"would you….care to dance?" she said loudly over the music. Altair took the time to think it over. He knows that he can't slack off again; Malik would only scold him again if he did. But this girl was smokin' hot, why would he pass up an opportunity like this. Besides his target isn't even here yet, so there really was no reason to stick to serious business.

"alright" he replied loud enough for her to hear. She grinned, almost bouncing on her feet, as she grabbed him by the wrist, pulling him to the dance floor.

* * *

Malik was hanging out near the VIP lounge, continuing to talk to people around there. As he gathers information about the club owner, it seems that what the two women he talked to earlier, weren't being exactly honest. It turns out that William only does his announcements on stage four times a week, around 12, and it usually only takes 5 minutes to do it. Malik bit his lower lip, digging into his back pocket, reaching for his small watch like device that Huda gave him. He strained his eyes through the flashing lights to see the time. It was already pass 12; this may have been a slight miscalculation for their mission, of course it had. William only comes to the club four times a week, right? Perhaps he wasn't coming in tonight, that would be the only explanation. Certainly Huda should have known about this, unless he may have missed that part out. Malik sighed in irritation, he is pissed off about this, but he wonders how Altair will react to this. He definitely had to find the man and tell him, for they had spent the whole night wasting their time doing nothing.

He quickly made his way across to the bar, hoping that Altair was still there, probably having his fun. When he made it to the bar, the taller man was nowhere to be seen. Malik turned around and looked out to the dance floor. He could see a familiar hoodie out in the crowd; it certainly looked like the one Altair was wearing. He stared closely. It definitely was Altair, with….a woman? He was dancing with a random young lady, a very pretty one too. Malik stared with wide eyes, seeing how Altair was grinning at her, his hands on her hips. They both were close to each other, their hips grinding, moving along with the rhythm of the techno music playing in the background. The young lady started to move her hands up Altair's chest, wrapping her fingers into his hoodie. Malik suddenly felt a slight pain in his chest, a feeling he has never in his life experienced before. His hand touched the area where his heart is, what was that strange feeling? Was he jealous? Malik didn't know what to think. He may have thought that…..Altair was…what he did earlier…what he said. He shook his head, sparing his mind from these thoughts. Malik looked towards the exit of the club. Maybe he should leave; there really was no reason for him to be here right now. Besides, Altair probably wants to be alone anyways.

Malik pushes his way through the some people, realizing just how packed the place was. He stood right before the double doors, looking back at the dance floor one more time, wishing that his partner would notice him leaving and stop him, but he seems to be too busy to even notice. Malik suddenly felt someone push him aside roughly, almost making him stumble, if it were not for a nearby table to break his fall. "out of my way, boy!" an older looking man hissed, a scowl on his face, walking passed him. He had a few bodyguards, much like the ones outside, surrounding him. All of them followed along with him, looking around for anything suspicious through those shades they had on. Malik narrowed his eyes at the man that had assaulted him. He had a thought that this guy seemed very important, since he did have men around him, doing their best to protect him. He might be William of Montferrat. This is great….it seems that luck is on his side. He looked back at the dance floor for a brief moment, wondering if he should tell Altair. Wait, no, he doesn't need him; he could handle things on his own. He walked behind the group, keeping a long distance between him and the others.

* * *

Altair was getting bored now. Sure it was nice dancing with this girl, but she is getting dull, besides he is really tired of dancing, especially with random people. Altair let go of her, starting to walk out of the dance floor. "hey, wait" he felt his arm being tugged from behind. "where are you going?"

Altair rolled his eyes, sighing he turned to look at her, "I have to go." He said loudly, the music being too loud for the two to hear.

"why?" she whined, "where are you going!"

"I have to find my girlfriend….sorry!" he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"your taken already….that is such a shame." She continued to whine, crossing her arms over her chest. Altair gave an apologetic smirk; he turned around, taking off quickly. He needs to know if Malik has found something.


	7. Chapter 6: Romance is Necessary

**Slow update is slow. I am sorry to those who wanted this story to get updated sooner. It's just that I lacking motivation for it, and all, you know? I find it kinda funny how people actually like this story. I mean the story is okay, but my sucky writing is just terrible. Probably one of the reasons is cuz I mostly don't know what I am talking about in this story. But I shall continue this story if u all want...**

**Also, this is going to be a huge problem for me...I can't really write fight scenes. I actually did try it, but it's as good as it's going to get. If I could, I would have someone else write the action for me, that way, it would be quicker for me to get done. So I hope it is understandable...but, I should stop talking...plz enjoy!**

* * *

Malik followed his target into a corridor, slowly pushing his way through other people passing by him. They turned another corner, leading down a hallway to another set of double doors, a tall man blocking the entrance. This looked like this was the way to backstage. He paused, watching William whispering something into the guard's ear. The man nodded, moving aside for the group to proceed onward. Malik took a minute to wait, as the guard was growing less wary of any suspicions. Without having any thought, Malik came out from the corner of the hallway, storming toward the guard, who was staring at him in question. He reached into his coat, grabbing hold of something, "Hey! You're not suppose to be he-" The guard couldn't finish his words, a small blade lodged into his throat. Malik retracted the hidden blade, causing the other man to fall to his knees, clutching to his throat for dear life. He gurgled something incoherent before collapsing to the floor. Malik crouched down, turning the body over, inspecting the coat of the body. He definitely found a gun inside, and a small familiar red cross pinned to the corpse's shirt. He was right about killing him.

Malik had a bad feeling about this…..should he really handle this alone? He shook his head, standing up and going through one of the doors. He went in quietly, making sure he isn't being followed, closing the door slowly. He crouched down a little, tiptoeing his way to stay hidden around the corner of the small empty room. This looked like a backstage area; curtains hanging from the ceiling, supply crates scattered around and in stacks. They looked dusty and covered in cobwebs. The raven haired man watched his target moving on even further. How much further must they go. He continues to pursue them, until finally halting where he saw them stop, meeting up with another group sitting at a small table. It looked like they were playing a card game while they were waiting. Malik moved back to hide behind a few crates that were forming a wall, getting further back to get a good spot to listen in and stay out of sight. At first he heard mumbling, but stayed quiet long enough to understand what they are saying. "Hello, my good comrades….."

"It's about time you showed up for the party, William." A man at the table said.

"Yes, well….How is everything progressing?" William had asked.

"Everything is in order. We have not had any problems recently." Says another voice.

"This city has been quiet for the past 2 month without those fucking jackals running around." Another has said, his voice much deeper.

"Perhaps those assassin's finally went into hiding like the cowards they really are!" Another man hissed.

"Yes" William agreed, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs, "It seems that everything is going our way."

"Now hold on for a sec; let's not get our hopes up just yet," A man with a French voice cut in, "We are forgetting about the Abstergo Industry."

"What about it?" Came an echo from across the table.

"I have heard that the Abstergo building in the east has been dealing with some trouble the past week…."

"I remember that, but so what? Those spies were dealt with as soon as they were caught….there is no need to worry."

"But are you not concerned that they may have already found what they are looking for?" He asked softly. He looked around the table, half expecting someone to answer, but everyone just stayed silent. "Why don't we think about it this way. If we were to ignore this little problem, then that would mean letting our guard down. Easily giving those assassin's the advantage. They can be anywhere as we speak, or perhaps they could be listening in on our conversation right now."

Malik widen his eyes, freezing where he was. If he didn't know any better, he may have thought that they already knew that he was here. Thankfully, he wasn't detected; he wouldn't get caught, not while he was hiding in a place like this. And right at that moment, a strong hand was roughly placed over Malik's mouth; he was pulled back against a warm body, into a standing position. Malik began to panic as he tried to break free from his assailant's grasp, which the other held him close and tighter from behind. Malik immediately started to stomp on the man's foot, and using his free arm to do a low blow to the gut with his elbow, making the man grunt in quiet pain. "Mal, stop…it's me."

Malik finally relaxed when he heard that familiar voice. He furrowed his brows, quickly removing Altair's hand to glare at him. "Altair?...What the hell were you thinking?" He asked in a harsh whisper.

"Me? What the hell were you thinking? You just ran off without a trace." Altair snapped, looking very disappointed, rubbing at the pain that was inflicted on his stomach. Damn, Malik was tougher than he had thought.

Malik huffed a breath, almost wanting to roll his eyes. It sort of annoyed him how Altair was acting like his overprotective father. "In case you were wondering, I was just doing what we came here to do. At least one of us were successful in our mission." Altair attempted to glare at him, raising a brow. "How did you find me here anyways? I turned my communicator off."

Altair smiled, "Do you remember the walkie talkie devices that Huda gave us for the mission?"

"What about it?"

"I was able to track yours using mine…..and when I came close to a dead body outside, I knew I was going the right way. You really aren't good at covering your trail, you know." Altair chuckled.

"Oh, shut up"

Malik went back to his earlier spot, with Altair crouching down beside him, "So, have you found William?"

"Yes, and some of his friends too. These men, are in some way, linked Abstergo." Malik informed. Altair tried to peek through some of the crates to get a glimpse of them conversing with one another. Oddly enough, from a far distance, he could hear them very clearly.

Altair continued to stare at the group of men, just hearing everything they say. "Just out of curiosity, what made you decide not to tell me about this?" He asked quietly.

Malik didn't look at him, only trying to see through the boxes in front of him. "You seemed….busy. So I thought I would take care of business myself." Malik replied.

That made Altair raise a brow, but he didn't say anything. He turned his attention to the Templars. They started talking again, "Don't you all remember what happened 6 months ago? An assassin killed one of our top men."

"Talal was a fool to go out in the open and going against the assassins, that is the only reason why he was killed." Said a plump looking man, his face scrunched up in a sneer.

A darker man nodded, "Agreed, but now we won't make the same mistake."

"Mistakes? We don't have to worry about making mistakes. Everything has been doing good so far, since the establishment of Abstergo." Another foreign voice said.

"And what of the spies that have infiltrated the Abstergo building? What is to be done with them?"

"It does not matter," The familiar voice from before was heard again, "The only thing that matters now is what we plan for what is ahead." Malik had barely little time to realize that Altair had shifted a bit closer to him, seeming almost unaware that he had moved at all. Completely oblivious, Altair focused on the group, as his chest was touching Malik's shoulder. The darker man didn't dare look at him, only blushed slightly at the sudden physical contact. He blinked a few times before focusing back to the men at the table.

"So, de Sable….we heard that you have found an artifact, correct?"

The man hesitated, "….Of course, I have."

"You are saying that you have got your hands on one of the pieces of Eden!"

"That is correct…" The man chuckled.

There was silence in the large empty room, until an older man spoke, "Well?...where is this artifact now?"

"I'm having my men take good care of the artifact over in Europe. I plan to have it imported into the US about a week from now."

Altair furrowed his brows, "What could be so important about this artifact? This 'Piece of Eden'?" He whispers, turning his attention to his partner.

Malik felt a warm breath on the side of his neck, making him shiver slightly. He moved away from Altair enough to face him, very grateful that it was dark where they were. "Who knows….it appears important to them."

"I think we have enough information. We should get out of here now while we still can." Altair said, still crouched down, watching Malik nod and start to move back quietly. Altair pulled out the small walkie talkie out of his pocket, looking for the right button to press to get contacted with Huda. He finally pressed a button, speaking softly into it, "Huda, are you there?"

"Altair? What is happening?" A loud voice could be heard. Altair quickly tried to muffle the man speaking. This device had really good speakers. "Huda, keep it down," He said in a low growl, "Listen, we have the information that we needed. We'll tell you about it, once we are out of the club. Is that understood?"

"….Affirmative." Huda replied.

Altair stood up from his crouch position, putting away his small device. When he turned around to follow his partner, he instantly froze. Two men, wearing similar black suits, were pointing their guns at him. One man held Malik, his arm around the darker man's neck tightly. Malik grits his teeth, trying to get loose, but was forced to cease his struggling when he felt a gun being pressed roughly into his head. He stared wide eyed at Altair, while the other stared at the man advancing toward him with his gun cocked and ready to fire. "Leaving so soon? Were you in a hurry?" He smirked. Altair narrowed his eyes, balling his fists. This was not good. He started thinking of how he would get out of this predicament, while his partner is being held captive. Usually in this kind of situation, he would have ran and left his partner behind, or at least taunt his enemies into killing his partner, if they had the balls to. But now, he knows that none of those were an option. He isn't going to fail his partner now.

"Not really…..we were just looking for the restroom. But, we got lost." Altair said jokingly, raising his arms up slowly. "So, if you don't mind; my friend and I will be going now."

Both the men started to laugh, "I'm afraid we cannot allow you to leave." The man stepped closer.

"The two of you have heard too much. And now….you have to be dealt with. That's what happens when you decide to eavesdrop." The man holding Malik said, grinning like a mad man. Malik started to struggle again.

Altair raised a brow, "What do you plan to do with us? You're going to bring us to your leader to torture us, and have us beg for mercy?" The guard took another step.

"Altair…" Malik forced out, barely able to breathe.

"That sounds like a good suggestion, but you would only be a waste of Montferrat's time. Killing you would be a better solution." Almost there. The guard was right in front of him, his gun aimed right at his face.

"I see…" Out of reflex, Altair moved forward, whirling his arm around the taller man's arm, stepping in with a thrust of his elbow to the man's face. With the gun still in the guard's hand, Altair spun the man's arm around, aiming the gun to the one holding Malik, successfully shooting the other guard in the forehead. The guard collapsed and Malik was now free, but stunned at the same time. Altair twisted the man's arm back in an angle, pressing it into his head, and pulling the trigger; the body fell to the floor. The loud gunshot could be heard around the large room, alerting all the men at the table. Altair stood still for a moment, then looked over at his partner. "You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah…..That was pretty cool and all, but next time, give me a warning before you decide to shoot at me." Malik informed. He was amazed, yet terrified. He did not even want to imagine how it would have been if Altair had missed and ended up shooting him instead….or had failed, and gotten shot too. Malik was beginning to think that Altair was a risk taker. The two can hear a loud commotion echoing in the room.

"Find out where that came from!"

Altair rushed over to Malik, gripping his shoulder. "We need to go now!" They both ran out.

Rushing out from their hiding spot, someone was shouting, "There they are, after them!" Altair and Malik pulled their hoods over their heads. Quickly making their way out of the area, leaving through the doors they had entered from before; running through the long passageway, shoving random people aside. Finally, they made it back to the club, the music booming in their ears; glad there were no guards alarm out here yet. The sound of footsteps erupted in the hallway, and they were forced to run again. They went over to the dance floor, trying to blend in as best they can. That would give them the advantage to lose them. Though, the guards aren't that far from them, it seems they won't lose them so easily.

The guards were close by walking amongst the crowd; Altair scowled, he had to think of a way to lose them, and quick. He grabbed Malik by the shoulder, speaking as loud as he could. "We need to ditch our hoodies!" He said, and his partner nodded his head. They hastily remove their hoodies, dropping them on the floor. Hopefully, no one will notice the hidden blade strapped to their left arm.

Altair and Malik finally broke free from the crowd, casually walking toward the exit, sticking close to each other. Altair had noticed a few guards walking all over the place, trying to keep their eyes peeled for the ones wearing hoodies. They were definitely out looking for them now. In his peripheral vision, Altair can sense that a few men were following them. Are they suspicious of them?….Shit! Altair quickly grabbed Malik by the wrist, "This way" he ordered, and they went in a different direction instead. Altair dragged Malik to the bar area, searching for an empty table booth to sit. When Altair found one, he shoved Malik into the seat quickly. The smaller man gazed up at him with a questioning look. Altair sat down next to him, pushing him further back of the table booth, until his back met the wall. Malik was curious to what the taller man was planning.

Altair had put his hands on either side of Malik's head, leaning forward, "Altair, what are you-"

"Just shut up and close your eyes!" Altair crushed his lips onto Malik's, making him gasp in surprise. Malik was in shock, staring wide eyed at his partner, feeling the touch of his lips on his. It had started as just a subtle kiss, then Malik could feel a warm tongue brush over his mouth; it made him shudder. Malik felt uncertain at first, but he parted his lips, allowing him access. The way Altair's tongue played with his, felt….weird, but not bad at all. It was a strange new feeling to him, but at the same time it was very nice. Malik started to moan, his face heating up, and his heart pounded at a rapid speed. He couldn't believe Altair was kissing him. Malik had his first kiss…..with Altair! The taller man pressed his body closer to his, putting more force into the kiss. Instinctively, Malik ran a hand through Altair's short brown hair; having already shifted in his seat to get more comfortable, hooking his right leg around Altair's waist.

Three of the men that were following them, had caught up; their hands were in their coats, probably preparing to pull their guns out. Though, they weren't exactly expecting to see the pair making out. Altair and Malik really looked like a regular couple. The guards stood there, observing them for a few seconds, until they moved on to search around the bar area, before leaving. Malik looked through half lidded eyes, seeing as there was no guards watching them anymore. They finally broke apart, both of them needing to breathe; Malik stared into Altair's eyes for what seemed like forever to them. "Al…Altair?" Malik panted.

Altair blinked a few time, turning around, focusing his eyes to the guards that had long departed. Altair glanced back at his partner, who looked very flushed in the face, "Sorry, about that." He said, smoothly moving over on the cushioned seat. Malik hesitated, but soon followed after. Now that they aren't drawing attention to themselves, they have the chance to leave this nightclub, for good.

Later, Altair and Malik had snuck out of the club, making their way to the parking lot. Huda was waiting by Malik's car, looking very pleased to see his comrades again. "Brothers, how did it go."

"It was successful." Altair said.

Malik nodded his head, "Indeed, but it would be best if we got out of here now." They all agreed, getting into the car, quickly buckling up. It was a long drive back to HQ. As Malik drove, he wondered why Huda wasn't speaking a word to them; not discussing about the mission or anything in particular. Was there something wrong? Altair seemed to have noticed as well; he kept checking on the man through the rear view mirror. "Huda, is everything alright?"

As soon as he spoke, Huda nodded his head vigorously, "O-of course, my friend." He said nervously.

Altair raised a brow, "Are you sure? I would have thought you would be asking us questions about what we have learned."

"Yes, well…..We shall have plenty of time to talk about the whole Abstergo conspiracy and the Piece of Eden when we get back to HQ."

"Wait…..How did you know there was an artifact involved?" Malik looked bewildered, and Altair crossed his arms, turning in his seat to look at the informant.

"Yeah, how did you know about the 'Piece of Eden'?" Altair glared at him.

Huda blushed a bright red, unable to keep silent, "Okay, I will be honest…..I heard everything that was going on. Malik's walkie talkie was turned on, and I guess he didn't know about it. So, I just listened this whole time."

"You heard everything." Malik asked, blushing slightly.

The informant looked down shamefully, "Yes….Besides the part where you supposedly found William and his group; a few minutes after that, I also heard you two…..moaning." Malik suddenly hit the break, stopping the car. The other two being nearly thrown out of their seats, stared at him. A car could be heard honking behind. Malik does know how it could have turned on…..He remembered Altair grabbing his ass earlier.

Malik turned his gaze at Huda as well, "Huda, it's not what it seems. All we did was kiss, that's it. We only did that to trick the guards. Besides, I didn't even like it!"

Altair narrowed eyes at Malik, "What do you mean you didn't like it. I'll have you know that I am a great kisser!"

Malik had noticed, but he rather not acknowledge that, "I just don't see why you had to kiss me. You could have done something else to get those annoying guards off our tail."

"Like what? That was the only thing I could think of. Besides if we were to use our smoke bombs, we would have really drawn attention to ourselves."

"You guys"

"I never did say I was okay with you pressing your lips with mine!"

"So, this is the thanks I get for saving both our asses?"

"Guys!"

"What!" Altair and Malik glared back at him.

Huda sighed, "It's all good. I don't have a problem with you two sucking faces. I just had a problem with keeping secrets from you, that's all." Both Malik and Altair looked embarrassed now. This fight was rather pointless. "Do you think you could take me home?"

"Sure" Malik said. It was already going to be 2:00 in the morning, Malik had realized after he had dropped off the informant. Now he was going to have to get Altair back to HQ, and go back to his apartment, to get some well-deserved sleep. He would have to worry about reporting their mission in the morning. That is, until Altair said something unexpected.

"Malik, you mind if I stay over at your place for the night?" He asked, his expression serious.

The raven hair stared at his partner for a moment, "What?"

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**Review C:**


	8. Chapter 7: Brotherly Chat

**Here is the next chapter. I could have uploaded on friday, but I decided to wait until after the weekend was over. I had a slight vacation away from home to celebrate my little sister's birthday. And I have to say it was pretty crappy, but not the worst I ever had...Don't ask why though.. I am so glad I am home again :)**

**This one is short, I know, but I promise I will make the next chapter longer. I feel as though I am making a habit of it now...just probably due to lack of motivation, I guess :/ But, I'll probably get over it soon...**

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Kadar awoke to the smell of what he might have guessed was bacon being cooked. He forced himself to get out of bed, only wearing his blue boxers. He quickly grabbed a gray shirt lying on the floor, putting it on, not caring if he had worn it before. He tiredly opened his door, leaving his room, heading towards the smell in the kitchen. He saw Malik indeed making breakfast, and the bacon that he smelled just a while ago set on a plate on top of the counter. "Good morning, brother." Kadar said, feeling very lazy to speak.

Malik looked over his shoulder, smiling when he saw his sleepy brother coming in, "Good morning to you Kadar; did you sleep well?" He asked.

"Yeah, I did," Kadar replied, moving over to this brother's side, watching as he was cooking eggs over easy. "When did you come home last night? You certainly were taking a long time on your mission." He noticed how Malik suddenly froze, but soon went back to flipping the eggs over.

"Yeah, it did not go exactly as planned, but we were able to pull through. It really took up a lot of our time though." Malik explained.

"I see" Kadar stared at his brother, seeing dark circles under his eyes; he must have come home at a very late time. "Malik, you look very exhausted! Were you working the whole night?" Worry spread over his features.

"I-I…..I haven't been able to sleep at all last night." He said, only smiling at his little brother. He moved the eggs onto another plate, putting them close to the other plate.

"Well, why not?" Kadar asked. He was nearly startled when a sudden loud snore started filling the room. Kadar saw Malik looking in the direction of their living room, and deciding to walk over there cautiously. The younger brother went to the living room, making his way over to the couch, peeking his head over slowly. "Um….Mal…..What is he doing here?" Kadar looked at his brother, while pointing down at the man sleeping on their couch.

Malik only shrugged, "Altair needed a place to stay."

"Why? He couldn't have gone back to base or what?" Kadar asked, striding back to the kitchen area.

Malik shook his head, "No….He actually mentioned something about him trying to avoid his father, or something like that. So, that convinced me enough that he needed some space." He said.

"Hmm….Must be some kind of father-son quarrel going on, huh?" Kadar says, grabbing a plate and serving himself some bacon.

"Yeah, maybe." Malik just stood where he was.

"So…."

Malik finally turns around, raising a brow at his brother, "What?"

"Aren't you going to tell me what's up? Why couldn't you sleep?" Kadar brought back that topic.

"This isn't any of your business, little brother." Malik stated, giving him a stern look.

"This happens to be my business. I'm your brother, and I want to be able to help you get through any problems you are having…..Is it so wrong for you sibling to worry about you?" Kadar looked at him with a serious expression.

"No, it's not. There really is nothing for you to worry about." Malik said. He got a plate with some eggs and bacon, going over to the dining room.

Kadar had followed him, clearly not convinced in the least. After they had seated, Kadar spoke up again, "You are such a bad liar. If there is something going on, you could always tell me. You know how much of a good listener I can be." Kadar informed, anticipation could be seen in his eyes.

Malik wrinkled his nose, glaring at his little brother. He always hated how determined Kadar can get, just so he could hear a secret. "Fine….If you must know….The reason why I couldn't sleep is because; I just had something on my mind, that's all." He shrugged.

Kadar continued to stare at him, "Would it….Have anything to do with your mission?"

"In a way….Yes"

"Well, what is it?" He asked excitedly.

"It's nothing; just forget about it." Malik started blushing, but Kadar hadn't noticed due to his excited curiosity.

"Is it something bad?"

"Well, no…I wouldn't say it's bad, it's just…"

"Did you almost make a mistake that nearly compromised your mission?" Kadar suddenly says, making his brother look wide eyed at him.

"What? No, I didn't do anything-!" Malik nearly shouts.

"Then…Altair had made a mistake?" He pressed on, absentmindedly sliding his plate away.

"No, we didn't do anything wrong…..Uh…." Malik's blush increases as he averts his eyes, looking down at his breakfast.

Kadar leaned forward on the table, "Did something happen….Between you and Altair then?" Then at that moment, he had an idea what is brother is not telling him, "Brother, did something happen between you and your partner?" He smirked, resting his chin on one hand, a knowing look in his eyes.

Malik's face had gotten beat red, "N-no, what made you think that?" He panicked, completely making himself obvious.

Kadar nearly jumped out of his seat, "Something did happen!"

"Keep it down, you'll wake up Altair." Malik said quietly.

"Tell me, please…."

"Just forget it, Kadar!" Malik shook his head in disapproval.

"Please, please, please…" Kadar begs, his hands clasped together in a pleading way, "Come on, you can tell me…."

Malik sighed, hesitating for a moment. He was debating whether or not he should tell his brother, and wondering what his reaction would be. Though, he has a clue what it will be, "We…" He tried, sounding nervous, "We….We, um…..Kissed." Kadar went silent for a second, slumping back to his chair. Malik looked away from his brother, fearing for what he is about to say.

"Dude…"

"Kadar…" Malik glared at him as he starts.

The boy grew a huge smile, "This is some freaky shit…"

"Kadar, stop it!"

"Why?...Don't you find it weird that you met a guy that looks similar like the one in your dreams and he ends up kissing you so suddenly….And, and…..You finally got your first kiss, Malik!" He says happily.

"Shut up….Altair only kissed me because he had to, not because he wanted to. We had to pretend to be a couple; it was the only way to get the Templars off our trail." Kadar frowned, looking disappointed. "And, not to mention that the man I keep dreaming of doesn't want anything to do with me." He stated.

"Yeah, but….It can't just be coincidence. I'm mean….Ever since you started having these frequent dreams; I had thought it meant something. And when Altair came along, it felt like it was fate…As if you were suppose to meet each other; just like in your dream."

"And what? Do you also think just because Altair and I had kissed means that we were meant to be together?" Malik raised a brow.

"Well…..Why not? I honestly think you two would make a cute couple." Kadar pouted, crossing his arms. "But…After that experience, how do you feel now? Did you….Did you at least enjoy the kiss?"

Malik once again blushed, leaning back into his chair, crossing his arms too, "Actually…I did."

"And then what? Would you say that you….Like him now?" Kadar asked quietly.

The other shook his head slowly, "I seriously don't know…..I just feel confused." They both went silent. Soon after, they heard Altair walking in, yawning and stretching his arms over his head.

"Morning..." He took a seat next to Malik, which he was too oblivious to notice that Malik turned away from him. Kadar's mood brightened as the man walked in; and Malik tried to keep his gaze down, not daring to look at his partner, "You guys made breakfast?"

"Yeah, you want some?" Kadar smiled at him.

"Here…" Malik slid his plate in front of Altair, "You can have mine…" He grumbled, standing up abruptly and leaving the table.

Kadar stood up, but didn't move, "Brother, where are you going?"

Malik turned around, "I need to take a shower. I'll be back soon…" He said, "After I'm done, we have to go back to base to file in our report from last night, understood?" He gave a stern look at Altair only, earning a nod of a head.

As soon as Malik left, Altair began to eat some eggs, which were now cold, "Well, he seemed upset."

Kadar shrugged, "Eh…Don't worry about him; he sometimes gets like that."

Altair shook his head, but didn't say anything after a moment. But, then he says, "So….What did I miss?"

"Hmm?" Kadar lifted an eyebrow in confusion.

"You two were talking about something. I may have thought it was important." He said, taking another bite.

"Uh….I-It's nothing…..Malik was just asking me something." Kadar said simply, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh…" Altair paused, the spoon hovering over the plate, "Has he been questioning you about the club you go to?"

Kadar froze, staring wide eyed at Altair, "W-What?"

"Yeah, he knows about you drinking over at 'club perfection', you know." Altair chuckled, continuing to eat his eggs. "And he was really pissed when he found out."

"He….He was?" Kadar stared blankly at the wall, sinking down into his seat. 'Oh shit!'

After spending a good 15 minutes taking a hot shower, Malik had gotten a towel and wrapped it around his waist. He walked over to the foggy mirror, running his hand across the mirror to see himself clearly. He stared for a moment and sighed, leaning his hands on the sink. Reaching one hand up to his lips, his fingers touched them softly. The touch of Altair's lips still lingers on his, as if it had burned him and left a permanent mark there. He can't get over how much of a good feeling it was actually; even though it was his first kiss. He isn't sure if it's always going to feel that way every time you kiss someone or anyone really. He just knows that it felt right when he did it with Altair. And he wouldn't be able to admit it to anyone, especially to his brother. Malik would not even admit to himself, that he might have new found feelings for his partner.

He might have fallen for Altair…over one kiss.

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**Please do let me know if u liked, it does mean alot to me :D**


	9. Chapter 8: Infatuation

**Wooooo! Long update has finally arrived! I'm sorry it took like FOREVER, but I finally had the urge to continue it, becuz you all requested that I should continue writing this story :D...But, I will be honest, I'm not even sure if I even remember what I was planning to even do in this story. Then, again, that's where I have to get creative as always...And most of the time, I get motivated by everyone's review. So, please keep up the reviewing!**

**Anyways, enjoy :3**

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How long has it been now? More than thirty minutes? Malik had to wait patiently for the lady in her office area to look for some recent paperwork that Leonardo needed on the computer. Watching her typing away on the keyboard, clicking a few times with the mouse, but the frustrated look on her face hadn't diminish, meaning that she has yet to find them. Why couldn't Leo get these documents himself? Honestly, Malik is starting to think that his friend is getting lazy.

Malik absently began to tap his fingers simultaneously in a rhythm on the counter, waiting for the lady to hurry up. Malik so didn't have time for this. "Hmm….I can't seem to find it. Just a moment, I'll be right back." The lady said, getting up and around her desk. She sauntered off, leaving her workplace without saying anything to him. Malik sighed.

"Great…" He said, frowning, stuffing his hands into his pockets. As Malik turned his back, someone walked up to him.

"Malik?" The darker man glanced over his shoulder, turning his body fully around, when he saw that familiar face from yesterday. It's that man, Ezio had introduced to him when they were having lunch. "Do you….Remember me?" He made a charming smile, crossing his arms over his chest.

Malik blinked dumbly, "Uh….Y-Yeah. You're that guy….A friend of Ezio's, correct?" Malik said, "Um…Romano, was it?"

"Ah! Good, so you do remember me." A grin spread across Romano's lips, stepping closer to the other. "It's actually nice that I get to see you again…I-I mean, having to see a familiar face in this area, that is." He said quickly, face reddening a bit.

Malik raised a brow, "You working around here?"

Romano felt his face flush, feeling embarrassed to answer. "Uh, no, I'm not working at all. I am actually lost…" He simply replied, absently reaching a hand up to rub at the back of his neck.

The shorter man knit his brows together, "You're lost? Where were you heading?"

"Oh, I was just….Passing by," He explained, shrugging his shoulders, "I was looking for the fitness center. I….Thought I could find the place on my own, since I am new here, but I ended up lost."

Malik snorted, crossing his arms, "Couldn't you asked anyone to direct you?"

"No…"

"Why not?"

Romano sighed, "Because….I am not really the 'Social' type. I like being to myself most of the time…..And I don't really like talking to new people." He said, gazing at Malik.

"Oh…" Malik now understanding why, "Well, I can help you get there after I collect some paperwork for a friend first; if that's okay with you. I'm still waiting on someone to get them for me." This made Romano smirk. Malik took his eyes off the man, looking around, seeing other people passing through the office area. The lady still wasn't back yet, making him wonder how much longer he will have to wait.

"That would be nice, _grazie_." The Italian kept his gaze still as Malik turned his back on him for a moment. Feeling shameful for doing this, Romano allowed his eyes to travel down to the man's backside. He cocks his head to the side as his mind fills with perverted images of having the darker man in bed with him. 'I bet his ass would be tight.'

For some odd reason, Malik started to tense up, but he didn't know why. The Italian shot his eyes back up as soon as Malik glanced at him. The darker man was able to catch that strange stare, "What?"

Quickly realizing this, Romano let's his eyes waver, "Uh, How was the mission last night?" He decided to bring up that subject.

"Oh, right," Malik just shrugged, "I guess you can say it went well."

Romano raised a brow, "Did anything interesting happen while you were over there, at least?"

Malik averted his gaze, blushing slightly. He wasn't ready to tell anyone about what happened between him and Altair, "No…Not really. Except we did get into some trouble…"

"Why? What happened? You didn't get hurt, did you?" He came closer to the shorter man, a concerned look taking over his features.

Malik chuckled, shaking his head, "No, no, as you can see, I don't have a scratch on me," He said. Romano's worried face hadn't faltered yet, "But, I was the one who was careless to let my guard down, and almost got us both killed."

"You were?..."

He nods his head, "Yeah….And I won't be making that same mistake again. I'm actually glad Altair did what he had to." He blushed again, remembering that moment when they had to share a kiss together.

Romano felt his body relax, "Don't worry, Malik; everyone makes mistakes. All that matters is that you're okay." Malik shared a quick glance at him, a smile stretching over his face. Romano couldn't help but blush slightly. 'Damn! He is so cute!' He thought, still staring. "You and Altair certainly trust each other?" He spoke again.

Malik blinked at him, "Well, we are partners. I feel it is important to have trust in one another, in order to work together, don't you think?"

Romano nods his head. He is a bit envious of Altair now. "I suppose so…." He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie, "You know….I wouldn't mind having you as a partner." He said. That was rather random.

Malik raised a curious brow, "…And why's that?"

Romano moved a bit closer, "Well….I wouldn't want to sound like a stalker or anything, but…..I have found out a few things about you while I was here. Very good things." He grinned, taking another step. "And…..I just think that you are quite amazing." Malik's eyes widened, feeling his face flush by these sudden kind words, leaving him almost speechless.

"Hey, Mal!" Malik gasped, being grabbed from behind, making him almost toppling over.

Looking startled from the surprise hug, Malik turned his head slightly, seeing Clay with a wide grin plastered on his face, "C-Clay?!" Romano had the similar expression as Malik. Who the hell was this guy?

"How's it going sweetheart~" Clay said, playfully, "I've missed you so much." The Italian refrained from scowling. Malik, however; looked slightly annoyed.

The shorter man gently shoved Clay off of him, "Did you really have to do that, Clay?" The blonde only shrugged, unfazed by the tone in his voice. Malik sighed, "And, please, enough with these nicknames, alright? You're making me feel embarrassed."

"Sorry, Mal~ I just can't help myself." Clay grinned.

Malik rolled his eyes, blushing a bit, "Can I help you with something, Clay?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Uh…Actually, yes" He starts, shifting where he stood, "I'm looking for Altair. Do you know where he is?" He asks, seriously.

"Hmm….Yeah, he said something about going back to his room to take a shower. But that was two hours ago, so I don't know what he is up to or where he might be right now."

Clay nods his head, "Oh….Okay, then."

"He could still be hanging out in his room, though…" Malik adds, "You could stop by and check to make sure."

The blonde gave a small smile, "Yeah, maybe I will…" Malik wasn't much of a mind reader, but he could tell that Clay had something on his mind. Something was troubling him.

"Clay, is something wrong? You look a bit….Anxious." Malik said.

Clay laughed, "What? Me? Of course not…." Malik furrowed his brows. He wasn't buying it. The blonde just sighed, "It's nothing, really. It's just about Altair and our father, that's all."

"Is it bad?" Malik had assumed something was wrong.

"No, it isn't bad, it's just…You know what, forget about it. How is your day going?" He quickly changed the subject. Romano mentally groaned, getting a little pissed that he was being completely ignored. Seriously, who is this guy that Malik is talking with? Was he a friend of his or….Should he say it…More than a friend? That isn't good.

"It's good, so far." Malik said, looking back to Romano. The Italian's frown instantly formed into a fake smile when Clay looked his way.

"Oh, who's you friend?" Clay asked, pretending he hadn't noticed him there.

"This is Romano, I met him just yesterday." Malik said.

Clay gave him a mocking smile, "Yesterday you say, huh? How interesting…" Romano knew what that look in his eyes meant; he's recognized that look many times. Clay knows? He probably saw how he was flirting with Malik just before approaching them; that can only be the reason why he is receiving **that** look. "So, you two are friends, eh?"

Romano glared dagger eyes at the blonde, "Yeah, we are. And you're somewhat of a friend of his, I presume?"

Clay cocked his head to the side, noticing the same look in the other's eyes. Certainly, Malik was oblivious to the little eye contact they were both having. He grinned, wrapping his arm around Malik's waist, bringing him close to him, making him blush again. Malik widened his eyes, "C-Clay, wha-"

"Actually, Mal and I are more than that…" Romano's stare intensified. Clay continued, moving his face closer to Malik's, "We are…..Best friends, right Malik?" He said in a soft tone, his hold on the shorter man squeezing him tighter. The shorter man averted his gaze down at the ground, having a furious blush over his face.

Romano frowned, feeling his jaw tick, which the other two didn't seem to notice. 'So, that's how you want to play it, huh?'

Just at that moment, the Italian noticed a hooded man standing behind the pair, as if he came out of nowhere. With the hood covering his features, Romano could tell there was a scowl underneath, "Clay?!" The blonde turned his head to see Altair was right behind him. Shortly after, Malik glanced over his shoulder to see him too. "What are you doing to Malik?" He seethed.

Clay pulled away as if he just touched fire, "Oh, uh-nothing! I was just messing around with Malik a bit, brother. Really. You know how I am around people." He stated truthfully, holding his hands up defensively, though Altair continued to narrow his eyes at him.

Romano blinked dumbly, while Malik just stared puzzled at his partner. Altair rolled his eyes, "Whatever….Just keep your fucking hands to yourself around my partner, alright?" He said sternly, standing between his brother and partner.

Clay nods his head while smiling, "Sure, brother, I understand that Malik should only belong to you." Romano looked confused at that statement.

Malik raised a brow, and Altair rolled his eyes again, shaking his head. It took Malik a moment to notice that Altair was holding a small bag over his shoulder, "What's in the bag?" He asked.

"Just some extra clothes."

"For what?"

Altair looked at him calmly, "For when I get to the fitness center. I felt like getting some exercise, instead of going to sleep for the whole day. Since there really isn't anything else to do around here…"

"Wait, you're going to exercise? But, you barely took a shower, didn't you?" Malik asked quizzically.

"I…Ended up falling asleep in the shower." Altair replied, hearing Malik snicker. He wasn't focusing on Clay to even see a large grin stretching on his face. "It's not funny!"

Malik laughed, holding his hands up, "Okay, okay, sorry."

Altair glared at him, "Anyways….Since we were out the whole night, I hardly got any shuteye."

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one." Malik agreed, "But, that's what happens when you're mission takes too long, and you end up staying up the entire night."

Altair chuckled, "I know….So, that's why I need to feel active in order to stay awake, and a cold shower won't do me any good." He pointed out. It was true, then. Just looking at the two, Romano could tell how tired they are, but mostly Malik seemed like he needed more sleep.

"Hey, Altair, before you go…" Clay started, "Dad was asking for you earlier. Maybe you could talk with him how things went with the mission and…"

Altair glowered at him, "I'll pass!" Clay nodded his head, looking down sadly. The hooded man sighed, "But…Thanks for the info. Maybe later..." The blonde didn't look at him, only smiled.

"Well, I'll catch you later Mal." He adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder and started taking off.

Malik then, just remembered Romano, "Altair, wait! You mind taking my friend with you?"

Altair turned to look at him, "Huh?"

Malik put a hand on the Italian's shoulder, "He was just heading to the fitness center too, but he needed someone to show him where the area was and I'm too busy to do it." Romano cursed under his breath; He didn't want this!

Altair turned his gaze at the man his partner was next to, "Oh….Sorry, I hadn't noticed you there before." Romano made an 'hmph' sound, a bit irritated by that statement. "Yeah, sure, I can lead him, but only if he can keep up." Romano stalked forward, gritting his teeth. He waved to Malik before leaving with Altair, both walking side by side.

Malik watched the two leave, afterwards focusing back at Clay, who was looking quite happy all of a sudden. It makes sense, since Altair is acting different with his brother? "Hey, Clay…"

Clay turned all his attention back to Malik, "Yeah, you need something, Mal?"

"Are you sure you're okay?" Malik shows a concerned look on his face, "I mean…With the family?" Clay's smile instantly changed into a frown, "Clay?"

Clay suddenly smiles again, "Don't worry about it, Mal~" He turns around as if he was going to walk away, "I'll see you later!" He winks at him and begins striding off in another direction.

Malik found this rather odd. But, now he realizes that he is alone once again. After the talk with his friends and the lady wasn't even here yet? Malik groans, dragging a hand over his face. Fuck this! He had other important things to take care of. He'll just have to come back for the damn paperwork later. He stormed off.

* * *

Romano kept glaring at Altair from the corner of his eyes, as they walk in the hallway. Altair had noticed by now that the new guy was staring, but for how long, he has forgotten. Just what was his problem? He turned his head slightly, his eyes still hiding behind his hood, "What are you staring at?" He asked as calmly as possible.

The Italian just rolled his eyes, looking away from the Arab, "…Nothing…" There was a silence between them as they made their way to another hallway. After a moment, Romano spoke up again, "How do you feel about Malik, Altair?" He asked.

Altair kept his head low, to avoid making eye contact, "He is….A good partner to cooperate with. Why do you ask?"

Romano shrugged his shoulders, feeling pleased with what the man had said, "No reason. I was just curious…."

Altair lifted his head, barely making his eyes visible, "About what?"

The Italian sighed, coming to a halt with Altair stopping ahead of him, "It's nothing, really. I was just wondering if he is in anyway special to you." Altair didn't say anything. "Malik really values you as his friend." He said.

Altair didn't know where he was going with this, "Yeah, and?"

"Well, I just expect you to keep it that way with him as well." He starts walking again, bumping shoulders with the hooded man. Altair was confused as hell. He didn't even know what that was about. What the fuck did he mean by that?!

* * *

**LoL, I do enjoy a good love triangle...Or love square. I just simply love it :3 But, seriously, there won't be anything between Malik and Clay. I'm just having some fun here. Now if anything, there will be a tug-of-war over Malik, becuz I is evil that way MuHahahahaha!**

**So, hopefully I can get to update the next chapter. Whatever will be in it, will be a mystery even to me...**


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